So Much to be Thankful For!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did! I will put up a separate post with pictures of Steven's first thanksgiving with each of our families. But I just wanted to take a minute to reflect on how very blessed we have been this year. Steve and I have so much to be extremely thankful for. This year the best blessing we could ever receive happened when our son was born. He is just the most amazing, happy baby and he fills our lives with joy each and everyday!

I am also so grateful for our friends and family. We have amazing support on both sides of our family, including free childcare by both sets of grandparents. That has been a HUGE blessing to us. It has enabled me to go back to work full time and not have to worry about finding childcare, can we afford it, and worrying about the attention Steven is getting while I'm away. I cannot say enough about how amazing both sets of grandparents have been in this regard. I am so grateful that Steven is getting to know his grandparents and has them around in his everyday life. That is something Steve and I wanted for him and we are so glad he has that.

Besides grandparents we have had a ton of support from our other family and friends. We are so grateful for them. From offers to babysit, to advice and love the support we have received this year from family and friends has been amazing.

I am so thankful for my job. I know, sometimes I wish I didn't have to do it, but I really am thankful that I have a steady job. I recently got a promotion (yay!) so that is a great thing to be thankful for as well. But in the last year, it has been really hard for Steve to find a job so I'm really glad that my job is secure and I'm able to pay our bills that way.

I am thankful that we have a house to live in, clothes to wear and food to eat. Although it hasn't been the easiest with Steve not working a majority of the year, there has never been a time where we couldn't afford food or any of the necessities and I know many people can't say the same.

Of course I am thankful for lots of other things like, shopping, chocolate, music, sunny days, and our puppies!
But I am just overwhelmed this year with gratitude for our friends, families and most of all our little man! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Christmas Wish List 2011

Can you believe the holidays are approaching! It seems like this year has just flown by. In keeping with last year's tradition, I thought I would post a wish list. No pressure or anything, just a fun list of things I'd like to have. Mostly its boring stuff for the house. ha!

I would really like to have a medium sized crock pot. Currently we have a huge one and a tiny one. I think a 5 or 6 cup crockpot would be good. Maybe one like this one or this one. It doesn't have to be fancy at all. Just turns on and get the job done! I mostly want it for things I would bring to work or for smaller dishes I might make for a party.

We could use a new toaster too. Ours sucks pretty bad. I was thinking of a 4 slice one, but a decent 2 slice one would do too. Maybe this or this.

I could really use an apple peeler/corer. We have been going through a lot of apples with Steven and this would really come in handy.
                                     

We could also use some new kitchen towels. I have a couple older ones and its time for an upgrade! I would really like some that actually absorb liquids and don't just look pretty! ha! Maybe some like these or these or these or these. Our kitchen is pretty blue and white, but any color that would go with that would be fine.

So enough stuff for the house! Something for me! I'm really into lariat necklaces lately. This one or this one are my favorites.

I love lotion from Victoria's Secret and I'm almost out! I really love all their scents and their lotion is so amazing. It works wonders on my skin. So any of those lotions would be a great gift!

I've also been getting into wearing scarves lately so I would love a couple more. I'm not super particular about them, just interesting ones. I wear all colors so really any color would be fine. There are some I like here here here here here here and here

As far as gift cards, my favorite places to shop right now are the Loft and Old Navy. Steve and I would love a gift card for some place yummy to eat too! Of course, Target gift cards are always appreciated.

Some thoughts for the holidays!

Stuffed Chicken Rollatini Recipe Review

I am loving this blog. I've mentioned it before but it really has some great, lower calorie recipes. I made another one last week from there...and it was delicious!

I attempted this recipe for Stuffed Chicken Rollatini. I modified it slightly to clean out a few other veggies we had in our fridge, but mostly used the original recipe. It was awesome. It was probably my favorite recipe I've made in a long time. It was very flavorful and filling. And look at how pretty!

Here's the slightly modified recipe I used:

Ingredients:
Chopped garlic (says 4 cloves, I just used a bunch!)
1 1/2 cups (1 medium) zucchini, shredded
1 red pepper finely chopped
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
1/4ish cup Romano (I used Parmesan) cheese
Shredded Mozzarella
8 thin chicken cutlets (I just cut in half 4 thicker chicken breasts)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Baking spray

Directions:
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute garlic and onion for a few minutes. Add zucchini, peppers, 1/4 cup Romano/Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and saute for about 3 or 4 minutes. Set aside to cool. When cool, combine with mozzarella.

Preheat oven to 450. Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Dry chicken cutlets and lay on working surface. Spread 3 tbs zucchini mixture on each cutlet (make sure to spread flat, not just lump in the middle). Loosely roll each up and place seam side down.

Combine breadcrumbs, 2 tbsp grated Romano/Parmesan cheese in one bowl. In other bowl combine 1tbsp olive oil and some pepper. Dip chicken in lemon juice bowl first, then bread crumbs bowl. Then place seam side down in baking dish. Bake 25-30 mins

Here are the chicken rollatinis ready to go into the oven! Yum!

Close up! Look at all that yummy stuffing!

The recipe sounds complicated but really its not that bad. I discovered that its important to spread the zucchini mixture out on the cutlet and not to lump it in the middle or it won't roll up well. I also found out that if you put a lot of the zucchini mixture in the middle of the chicken when you dunk it in the 2 bowls, some will fall out. So I ended up stuffing the excess zucchini mixture into the ends of the already rolled up chicken in the baking dish, if that makes any sense!

But anyway, not too hard to make and great results! This is really flavorful with all the veggies, cheese and the lemon juice sauce. Its also crusty with the bread crumbs. Yum!! And she says one cutlet has 171 calories! Making this one again!

Baby Steven's First Year..Six Months

This is one mommy who cannot believe her little baby is already a half of a year old! Time really does fly by way too quickly.

This month you are growing by leaps and bounds, little man. You are now 28 inches long and weigh almost 19 lbs! Such a big boy!

In the beginning of the month you were practicing sitting up and needed help to stay up. You would topple over really easily if we let you go. Now you are a pro! You are sitting up on your own regularly and rarely fall over like you used to. You can sit by yourself for a long time too.

You are showing your independence this month too. You will play by yourself sitting on the floor for a while now. You don't mind if we aren't right there next to you, you will just play along all by yourself. Your toys keep your interest for a long time and your focus is really good. If you are determined to figure out a toy, you will try and try for a long time. You are getting to be such a big boy!

One of your favorite toys is the exersaucer. You love to bounce around in it! You go a little crazy!!

You are so interested in your furry siblings this month. You didn't pay much attention to the puppies until last month when you started to notice them around you. But this month you are all about the dogs, especially Zora.

You love to reach out and pet them if they are close enough to touch. You get a little sad when they decide they've had enough and walk away. Its pretty cute.

They seem to love you too...a little too much sometimes! This picture just cracks me up!

Another super cute thing you are doing this month is trying so hard to copy the funny sounds we make with our mouths. You have been blowing and blowing air through your lips trying to make them vibrate. You will do it all the time too, not just when we are doing it back to you. So cute! You will figure it out, big man! You have also started squealing and screaming when we play. You "sing" with us sometimes at night. You also have developed several different laughs. Its so fun!

We did a lot of fun things this month with you, boo! We took your first trip to the zoo, went apple picking, went to a pumpkin patch, and of course celebrated your first Halloween!

Your pumpkin costume was a little big....maybe it will fit next year!

You've started really giving hugs and kisses this month...well you're version. But you will wrap your arms around our neck when we hold you up on our shoulder. That is so fun. You will also give open mouth kisses from time to time which is pretty cute too.

You love bath time now, big guy! You play and play with your bath toys in there. You also love to try to suck all the water off the wash cloth. Too funny!

We started solid foods and cereal this month and that has been a lot of fun for everyone. You are really interested in eating and love to sit up at the table with us during meals. You will even improvise at restaurants and eat some things off our plate while sitting on our laps. You are just getting so big!

Here you are going to town on a pear:

Your daddy and I just can't believe you are already 6 months old, little man! You are sitting up on your own, playing and really focusing on your toys, giving hugs and kisses (even to the puppies, who you love), and eating some solid foods this month! How time has flown by since you came into our lives. We are so blessed to be your parents and can't wait to watch you grow up! (just not too fast, please).

Baby Steven's Christmas Wish List

A lot of people have been asking for ideas for baby Steven for Christmas so I thought I would post a wish list on here. Here are some things that other kids his age have enjoyed and that will take us through till his birthday in May. I am working on turning at least part of the basement into a play room for him when he gets more mobile so having some toys that can stay down there would be great for that.

I've seen these cube things with different toys on either side like this one around a lot and I think it would be good for Steven. They can get pretty pricey so we are not opposed to a used one.

As an alternative to that, he was really into the bead mazes they have had in a couple waiting rooms so I think something like this would be good for him. He is also really into those pop up toys like this one. We don't have one of those yet, so that would be a good gift too.

He's pretty into this light up ball we got. Its a cheap version we got used so a better one may be nice for him to have. One like this one.

A shapesorter thing would be good for him at this age. Something like this or this or this He's also into stacking cups we have so this might be fun.

He really likes toys that he can push and pull around so some trucks would be great too. They don't have to make noise or anything, just basic boy trucks like this or this.

 

He is also really into balls so any balls to play with would be great like these. We have one little one and he loves pushing it around. As he gets older I think he will like bigger ones as well. Also, along those lines I saw an idea to turn your pack n play into a ball pit. I think that would be great when he's a little older so a set of balls like this one would be great to have.

He is going to start working on standing up soon so toys that encourage that will be helpful. This activity table toy is really neat, or this one.

Sometime in the future we will want to work with some educational, interactive books. This might be a good one to start and he can grow into it. Of course we always need more good, old fashioned books to read to him. He's pretty into board books right now and we have all of my old Dr. Seuss books, which he likes too. So any books we would love to have as well.

We are definitely going to need some kind of blocks set in the next year so one like this or this would be good to have.

There are some toys that people I know with babies have recommended to us as well. They are here, here, here, or here.

We could use some lullaby cds like this one or this one

Well, hope that helps! We are so excited to celebrate Steven's first Christmas with our family. Love you guys!

Kris and Zach's Wedding Weekend

I have mentioned a few times that my beautiful cousin, Kris is getting married. Well the weekend finally came! She got married October 22nd in Springfield, IL. I got to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was such an honor and I love her to death! We got an opportunity to spend some quality time with family that weekend and that was great. It was also our first trip away from the house with Steven so that was an adventure. It made mommy very nervous but turned out all was well! He didn't sleep hardly at all in the hotel but oh well!

Anyway! The weekend started off with the wedding rehearsal. Here are Kris and Zach at the rehearsal. Aren't they such a cool couple? I have never met a more laid back bride and groom. I think I was more nervous than they were! Don't you love her ribbon bouquet we made at her shower? Lol

Of course, after the reherasal is the rehearsal dinner! Yay! They had it at this awesome restaurant called Marios! The food was amazing!! (And don't we look nice?!)

My cousin, Mike and his wife Lauren's 3 daughters were in the wedding. They are always so much fun! Its crazy being around them but always hilarious. They love Steven too so that is pretty cute. Here we are with Addie and Courtney. Aren't they cute? (makes me want to have a girl someday :)

They also had this crazy thing at the restaurant called a Horseshoe. I had never heard of it but apparently it is a Springfield tradition. Steve had it and it was delicious! I think it was like garlic bread with meatballs and spaghetti sauce, topped with french fries and cheese sauce. Yum.

So the next morning, was Kris's wedding day! We started getting ready in the morning at my aunt's house. I could not believe how cool, calm and collected Kris was. She didn't seem nervous or anxious at all! Here is the bride getting beautiful.

We had a little drink to calm nerves in the morning, mostly mine since she wasn't nervous at all! ha ha!

After we all got ready, we headed over to the church. When family started arriving for the ceremony I got to see my little man all dressed up! Doesn't he look so cute? Daddy did a good job getting him ready!

Here is our little family all dressed up. I love this picture! Don't my boys clean up well? (And mommy doesn't look so bad either!)

I don't have any pictures from the actual ceremony because I was in it! ha ha! Here are a few from afterwards though. Here I am with the bride! She just got married! Doesn't she look beautiful?

3 of the 4 bridesmaids on the party bus! Kris's friend, Erin, me and my cousin (bride's sister) Cindy. I had a lot of fun with these awesome ladies!

The new Mr and Mrs Valenti!

Fun at the reception. Thank you so much to my wonderful parents for taking Steven so we could have a fun night! 

We had so much fun at the reception! Congrats to Kris and Zach. It was a great wedding! We are so happy for you both!