Clara, 9 Months

Clara's first year is flying by! She's 9 months now...already! Her first tooth popped through one week ago and the second is on its way. Clara is pulling up to her knees on everything, whether or not it's very stable. She's still army crawling but definitely ventures from room to room. And she dances to music!


And here's James at 9 months, just to compare for fun. James had way more hair. This was right before his first haircut, in fact. It's hard to remember James' chubbier days, since he's now a lean, mean, active-machine! :)

Balsamic Chicken Sandwiches

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe, but this one is worth sharing. It's not a new concept--tomatoes, basil, chicken...sandwich. I found this in the Parade magazine that comes in the Sunday paper. It's a Jessica Seinfeld recipe so the original calls for pureed broccoli...which I omitted. But it could possibly go undetected, I suppose, which would fit in with her Deceptively Delicious concept. I halved the recipe and made the following:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 cup flour (she used whole wheat)
2 T evoo
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
3 T brown sugar

tomato slices
grated mozzarella
fresh basil

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with flour.
2. Warm oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add chkn and garlic. lower heat to medium and continue to cook til chkn begins to brown and garlic becomes fragrant, 8-10 minutes.
3. Add chkn broth, vinegar and brn sugar. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes, til chkn is cooked through and no longer pink in center.
4. I served mine on a whole wheat tortilla, layered with mozzarella, tomato slices and basil leaves BUT the original recipe calls for assembling the sandwiches on ciabatta rolls and then baking them 5-7 minutes at 350* until melted.

This recipe would make about 3 or 4 tortilla wrap/sandwiches....

Enjoy!

Belated Father's Day

We are really missing Mark around here. He will be home in three days from a short missions trip to Rwanda. I took these pictures on Father's Day. That's how far behind I am in posting pictures! Mark is a super duper fantastic dad. He is so patient with the kids. James thinks the world of him, and Clara definitely lights up when she sees him the morning! Father's Day was pretty hot Mark pulled out the sprinkler and ran around in it with James while Clara watched from the swing. Later he and James made one of their favorite meals together; "pancanks", fried eggs, and bacon.
I'm starting to think collages could be my new method for including photos in my blog posts. I love that I can smoosh them all together and upload just one image! I realize the black and white I chose here is a little on the artsy side. I'm just playing around with settings!

Fro Yo

As one of our friends pointed out, frozen yogurt is definitely a dessert fad right now. I'll gladly jump on that bandwagon! I love the stuff! Of course I usually pick out brownie and peanut butter flavored fro yo. Mark had picked some 'healthier' fruity flavors when we took the kids a few weeks ago. Disclaimer: I never give Clara adult food, let alone desserts, but we let her have a few tastes. Naturally, it was a hit with her! And yes, I took my camera along just because I had remembered the cool orange chairs, and thought they'd make for great pics!

On another note, you may notice the collage above....I've downloaded the latest free trial of Lightroom and am loving it. With a lot of coaching from my friend Allison, I'm learning my way around it. But if the collage looks funky, it's because I downloaded a template on my own. Fun to play with! By the way, check out Allison's blog...she and her hubby are starting a photography business!

A Splishin' and a Splashin'

Two weeks ago we took a family trip to visit Mark's sister Gail and her family. They were wonderful enough to watch both our kids for the night so Mark and I could spend a night away from them in a B&B. Such a nice break for us. The second afternoon and night we all stayed together and got to take our kiddos to the pool. James had been to the swimming pool once, when he was about 10 months, so it's about time he try it out again. He was very hesitant, but Mark was super patient with him.

talking it over...a little pre-swim pep talk

all ready to go in her bathing suit!

SO brave all on his own (in the kiddie pool)

splashing Daddy with chilly water!

very first dip in the pool

Good job, James! High five!

Miss Clara, Almost 8 Months

Clara will be 8 months old next week. We are celebrating the fact that she only wakes up once in the night now and can sit up steady enough that she doesn't need padding & pillows all around her. Clara is eating two meals a day and loves it! I haven't done a good job of offering her much variety, but she likes sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, applesauce, and avocados (as long as they're mixed with something). She also LOVES these little teething biscuits I bought for her. They are great for keeping her busy and content during either my dinner prep or dinner time as a family, but BOY do they make a mess!

"I'm so happy sitting up! Sitting up means more social interaction!"

"Mmmm, teething biscuits. What a gummy mess I am!"

First Baseball Game

A few weeks ago, my Aunt Debbie, Uncle Dale, and cousin Tim took us to a Royals game. Since last year they have been wanting to take James to his first game and even got him a Royals tee for Christmas. James had a great time, ate tons of peanuts, and even made the big screen! What fun!

riding the carousel during the eighth inning

picking up his 'first game' certificate

clapping for pre-game fireworks