White Chicken Chili

I finally decided to try out a recipe for some white chicken chili! I made it last night, but put it in the crock pot before I left for work this morning. I'll say that I made it a little differently than listed below, but next time I make it - this is how I'll do it. I used 5 cans of beans and we decided that was a bit too much. I could use a little more spice, but I think Vannah and Danny were happy with the amount of spice I used. I served this with fresh baked bread, sour cream and cheese.

1 lb. chicken
2 onions, diced
4 cloves of garlic
2 cans green chiles
1 jalapeno pepper
1 box of chicken broth (32 oz I think)
4 cans of Great Northern Beans
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Cook and shred the chicken. Saute the diced onions and garlic in a pan over medium heat. Add green chiles and chopped jalapeno pepper. Let cook for a few minutes. Meanwhile, put two cans of beans and all of the chicken broth in the crock-pot. Puree two cans of beans in a food processor and add to the crock-pot. Add chicken to the crock-pot along with the onion mixture. Add the spices and stir well. I put all of this in the refrigerator overnight, popped it in the crock-pot first thing this morning on low and it was perfect by the time I got home from work. In fact, Vannah said that it was the best meal I've ever made. I'd say that was a slight exaggeration, but it was pretty tasty!

Regrets!?

Today was my first pay day at my new job. Not to be too terribly shallow, but I have to say that any regrets I may have been feeling about leaving my old job (which were few), have faded away. We aren't rolling in the money by any means, but it's nice to breathe a small sigh of relief for once! It's nice to feel like I'm finally being paid what I think I'm worth, considering my education and licensing. And I'm still loving the job...except for a few days that have been terribly boring because my work load appears to be significantly less than what it was before. I'm sure that will fade the longer I'm in this position, but I do feel as though this job is much more manageable than my previous one. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I've been given here and still am loving working with these boys!

So excited!

I've discovered that Sophie loves to watch the bird sing the birthday song on PBS sprout. Here she is watching last night!

6 month check up

We went in for Sophie's six month check up this morning and she's doing great! She now weighs 17 lbs, 6.5 oz (75th percentile) and is 27.5 inches long (97th percentile!)! The doctor said that everything looked great! He said that we could probably feed her more than we do now (I feed her fruit and oatmeal in the morning and veggies and rice in the evenings). He said we could do 3-4 feedings a day instead of two. He also said that it would be fine to start giving her some fruits/veggies off our plates, as long as she can tolerate their texture. He then gave me a quick lesson on how to dislodge any stuck pieces of food. 


I can't believe how quickly she's growing. She is truly a joy to be around (well, sometimes at bedtime, joy might not be the first word that comes to mind). She is such a sweet girl, though! She's sitting up by herself and scooting all over the floor. It's not quite a full crawl yet, more like a little army crawl, but she gets where she wants to go. She's become much more enamored with the cat....who doesn't want too much to do with her and really doesn't like it when she pulls his tail. She's not quite able to pull herself up yet, but she's pretty close. If you let her stand, she will hold on to something and hold herself up. She's as strong as an ox - she broke my necklace this morning while waiting at the doctor! 

Eating her mum mum.

Standing at the pack n play

Vannah struggling to accept how quickly she's growing up!

Bakerella's Triple Chip Cookies

In the last week, I've made two batches of these cookies. Um, to say the least, they are delicious. In the first batch, I used white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. They were absolutely divine. I didn't make any other changes and loved the flavor of the extra brown sugar. The second batch, I made out of desperation. Vannah was craving some cookies but the first batch was gone, and I didn't have as many flavored chips left. I made them with maybe a cup of white chocolate chips and the rest regular chocolate chips. Still delicious! 

Triple Chip Cookies

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
1 1/2 cups white chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, soda and salt with a wire whisk and set aside.
• Using a mixer, mix butter and both sugars for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Add flour in two additions, scraping down the sides in between. Mix until thoroughly combined.
• Mix chips together in large bowl and stir into the cookie batter.
• Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Then use a 1.5 inch scoop to place cookie batter 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Non-Sophie update

I'm two weeks in at the new job and left work yesterday feeling very fulfilled. The new position has lots of challenges (working with boys) and lots of benefits (lighter work load, more money). I'm still trying to figure out a few people. My boss seems very flexible and allows for a lot of autonomy in my work.  There were a few days during my first week when I just felt completely overwhelmed. The thought of working with teenage boys frankly terrified me. Now that I have two weeks of sessions under my belt, I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with them and actually enjoy the time I get to spend with them. One of the guys came in my office this week and was crying because he was not allowed to play football that evening. My heart just melted. It almost made me want to have another baby right away so maybe we would have a little boy. Almost. 

watch me grow...month 6!

Every month, I try to think of where the time has gone and this month, I'm truly at a loss. The month of August absolutely flew by and now we have a six month old little girl. It's hard to believe how big and active she is! She's growing and changing so much! Last month, she was just starting on solids and now it seems she has them mastered. Her favorite foods are green beans, carrots and prunes. She seems to like everything but squash and peaches, but we'll try those again soon. She is now sitting up on her own and getting up on her hands and knees. Danny and I were watching her tonight and she's really good at scooting backwards, but not so much forward. She still has not cut any teeth, which is a bit surprising to me, but I'm sure it will happen in due time! I got her a sippy cup and she's trying to figure it out (just with some water in it). We'll go to the doctor soon (bad mommy forgot to make the doctor's appointment this week) and get an update on height/weight. She's now in size 3 diapers and her 3-6 month clothes are getting tight. I think I'm in denial that she's moving up in sizes and just not quite ready for that! We're half way to celebrating her first birthday! We are unbelievably thankful for how healthy she has been and for what a happy baby she is. We really could not be any more blessed. 

2 weeks old....

1 month...

2 months...

3 months...

4 months...

5 months...

6 months...

My 29th Birthday!

My birthday was last weekend and we had a great time celebrating. My mom kept Sophie for us. After I dropped Sophie off, my friend Macy took me to get my hair cut! It felt so great to relax and have some nice adult time. After our hair cuts, Macy and I did some shopping for the evening and went back to my house for a while before dinner. Our friend, Brad, stopped in for a surprise visit and Danny's parents came over to drop off my birthday gift (beautiful earrings that I think I've worn every day since!). We went to Chuy's for dinner and had a great time. They sang "Happy Birthday" to me, but apparently mis-heard my name. So they sang "Happy birthday Izzie!" After dinner, we came back to our house and enjoyed sitting outside with the fire pit and playing on the slip and slide. Later, we played the Just Dance game, which was pretty hilarious! All in all, it was a great night. And I got to sleep in a bit the next morning! :)

5 months!?!

Not sure how it happened, but Sophie is already 5 months old! Time is truly flying by! She's a bit more mobile and squirmy now and really didn't want to sit still for her pictures! She's continuing to grow, change and learn everyday it seems. She's now eating baby food a lot better than before. Last week, we tried green beans - she loved them! Yesterday, we started on peas. She's enjoying those as well! She also eats oatmeal. My mom did a great job working with Sophie, feeding her everyday and now Sophie really has the hang of it. She was cracking me up earlier tonight with her mouth wide open waiting for the next bite. After we get through the peas, we'll move on to the orange vegetables - squash, carrots, sweet potatoes. Then, we'll let her try some fruits which I'm sure she'll just love.

She's not quite sitting up on her own yet, but she's close. I'd say she'll be there any day now! She still prefers to stand up, but would rather sit in my lap than lay down. She laughed harder tonight than I've ever seen. I was fake sneezing and she just thought it was hilarious. Her little giggles were so cute! There is nothing in the world better than that sound!

Here are her pictures - my how she's grown!

2 weeks



1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months!

Change

I've been thinking lately about all of the changes that we have endured over the past few years. Since Danny and I got married in November 2008, we have both changed jobs, we lost my dad, we bought a house, I changed jobs again (our gross monthly income decreased as a result), Vannah started high school, we had a baby, we bought a new vehicle....and so on. Things have constantly been changing and as much as I crave consistency and structure, here are I am getting ready to embark on yet another new adventure. I'm changing jobs....again. Leaving is harder this time than it was the first time. My relationships with the girls and families I work with are on a completely different level than they were in the past. It's hard to walk away from a program that I was a key part in starting, but I'm moving on to another challenge. In my new role, I'll be working with adolescent boys (glutton for punishment much??), but the job I'll be doing will be similar to what I'm doing now. From my interviews for this position, I really feel like I can make some positive changes in the program that I'll be joining. Time will tell. My last day with my current job is August 25. I'll have a three day weekend to celebrate my birthday and then start on August 29. I'm already getting nervous - what will I wear? Should I take my lunch? Will I have anyone to eat lunch with? Will I have to sit alone on the bus?? Oh wait, I went back a little too far! I am definitely feeling a little nervous, but so excited at the same time. Maybe after this change, we'll be a little more stable for a while. That is, until Danny starts trying to go work for Metro PD...

4 Month Check Up

Sophie had her four month check up today. All went well! She now weighs 14 lbs, 15 oz and is 25 inches long! She has officially doubled her birth weight. At her two month appointment, she was 11 lbs, 13 oz and 22 3/4 inches long. She is growing like a little weed! She's still in the 75th percentile for height and weight and 50th percentile for head circumference (she's at 41 cm now, at 2 months, her head was 38 1/2 cm). Everything has stayed consistent. She was so good and happy during the appointment, even smiling a lot at the doctor. And then, they gave her the shots. Poor baby! I will never forget that look of shock on her little face after the first stick! It's just so pitiful!! She did handle it like a champ, though. After some comforting, we loaded up and she was asleep in her car seat within just a couple of minutes. We were out and about for most of the afternoon, but I think it was starting to bother her more this evening. No fever, though, so that's a positive.

It's just amazing to me how quickly she is growing. She's so fun right now - laughing, giggling, rolling, and jumping. She's learning so much from day to day. She has learned that when you pull on the little doodlebug that hangs on her car seat, he shakes a little. She knows when mommy is here and when she is not. She is starting to have more of a reaction to me when I come in from work. When I came home earlier this week, she was sitting on Danny's lap, perfectly content and I walked in and said "hellooooo." Her little arms and legs started flailing...absolutely made my heart melt.

Morning times are still my absolute favorite time of the day with her. She loves to eat her bottle and then just snuggle with me. We sit together and she babbles away, looking up at me and grinning. I know that we will miss these moments, so I'm really trying to savor all of the wonderful things about having such a wonderful little girl. Soon enough, she'll be crawling all over the place, so I'll be sure to hold on to her as much as I can until then.

watch me grow...month 4!

How can it be that Sophie is four months old today? Time is really flying! We go to the doctor for her check-up on Friday. I'm interested to see how much she's grown.

A few milestones -
- She's rolling over (back to belly and belly to back)
- She has found her toes!

- We are officially finished breastfeeding...makes me a little sad, but it's time
- She's had a few tastes of cereal...she liked it better the second time than the first. I'm waiting to go to the doctor to give other foods.

- She loves to babble, especially when she's sleepy!
- She is giggling now, which is absolutely precious!
- She still loves bathtime, being held tightly, and having her bottom patted.
- She wakes up around 6:30 every morning and is normally asleep between 9 and 10 in the evenings.

Now for the "month by month" pictures!

About 2 weeks:

Month 1:

Month 2:

Month 3:

Month 4:

danny's birthday

Danny's birthday was last week and to celebrate, we went to a Bats game! We had four tickets, so we invited Lance and Vannah to come with us. We had a really great time, and Sophie was pretty well behaved. I took this picture while Danny was feeding her. She would not take her eyes off of him!

dad's day

With Sophie's baptism on Father's Day this year, I was a bit distracted from the hoop-la surrounding Father's Day. I was happy to celebrate Danny's first Father's Day with him. I gave him a photo book that I made for him and I think he really liked it. Father's Day, like so many other holidays, is just a tough day for me and my family. Yesterday was especially difficult because I reallywish my dad was there to see Sophie get baptized. It seems that having a baby has made the loss of my dad reach a little deeper than it did before. I miss him terribly, every day. And I'm so sad that Sophie will never know her Gramps. He would have loved her so very much and I just know she would have been crazy about him. Sometimes, it still doesn't feel real, even though it's been more than 2 years since he died. I know that it's not something we will ever "get over" and most days now are easier than before, but it still hurts and I still miss him.

This is just one of my favorite pictures of me and dad. I miss you.

Sophie's Baptism

Sophie was baptized on June 19, 2011, Father's Day. It was a really special day for all of us. Our friends and family came to the church, St. Louis Bertrand (where Danny and I were married), to take part in the baptism ceremony. In the church I grew up in, babies weren't baptized. They were "dedicated" to the church. Later in life, when that person was ready to accept Jesus and choose to become a Christian, they would be baptized. Danny and I attended a baptism class prior to Sophie being baptized and I really learned a lot. I've learned a lot about the Catholic church since Danny and I started dating (9 years ago!), but somehow missed out on the beliefs about baptism. This is not a theological blog, but I love learning about religion and different faiths. I loved learning more about the beliefs of the Church in this class and look forward to learning more as we, as a family, try to find a church home of our own.

All that to say, I did not take lightly the decision we made to have Sophie baptized in the Catholic church. We have committed to raising our daughter in the faith and will do our best with that! Thankfully, we have chosen godparents for Sophie that will help guide her as well. We asked Danny's sister and brother in law to be her godparents and they were of course thrilled to take on the challenge!

Sophie did great during the baptism. Just before the service started, she started to get fussy and I was praying that she would not have a major meltdown. Thank God for pacifiers! We gave her the paci and she fell asleep. She slept until the actual baptism. The priest pours water on the babies' heads three times. The first time, she stirred a little and the second a little more. By the third pour, I thought the paci was destined for a dip in the holy water, but thankfully I caught it before it went that far. Following the service, our family came back to our house and enjoyed some good BBQ from the Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot. Danny's parents brought a delicious cake and cookie cake. All in all, a truly great day!