Play Time

Jake and I try to get together with friends at least once a week. I'm very thankful for our play group and for people opening up their homes to us. The Friday before Valentine's Day we went to Nancy and Brooklynn's house for a special lunch date. I think Jake's two favorite things about play dates are being with his friends....here he is with one of the latest additions to the group, Emily... and playing with new toys...

Because of the Valentine's holiday, the kids got a special treat and decorated cookies. Here's Brooklynn's creation. She really wasn't interested in the cookie, just the icing...

I love, love, love this picture of Ally diving into her cookie. She seemed to be a sprinkles girl...

Of course, Jake and I couldn't miss out on the fun. Jake was not at all interested in standing still by the table to watch, much less attempt to decorate a cookie, so I made one and shared...
The Monday after Valentine's we were off to Cara and Owen's house. Again, Jake's favorite things were the cool toys and his friends. Owen has a really great train table. Jake loved it, and Owen was especially nice to share since Jake mostly liked to tear the tracks apart...

Cute Jake, the little one of the group (at least in this picture)...

After a couple attempts to turn these pics the right way, I'm just giving in and leaving them as is. Sorry. Just a couple more of cool, new stuff...

Phillip (otherwise known as Ratliff)

Kevin's good friend, who I call Phillip and he calls Ratliff, came over for dinner last night. He and his family live out in West Texas in a place called Valera, so we don't get to see them often, but he was here for a conference so we got a special treat. Kevin challenged Phillip to a shooting contest on Jake's basketball goal. Boys will be boys...Even though Jake hasn't seen Phillip since he was 7 months old, it was like he knew exactly who he was, and they were fast friends. I LOVE this picture. Isn't it hilarious? Also, in case you're wondering what Phillip is doing with Jake's hand...he's doing the "guns up" sign for Texas Tech. Yes, Phillip is a Red Raider, but it's OK, we still love him...

Pet Snail

Did the title get you to wondering if we just might have gotten a real live snail? Well, if you know anything about me and how I feel about bugs, you won't be surprised when you see Jake's little snail friend. I just don't see how I could possibly have an insect as a pet. Yuck! The thought totally grosses me out, although I know there's a chance Jake could really love bugs one day, I'm just hoping he never asks me for one. Anyhow, luckily I don't have to worry about that now, so the next, much better thing, is this adorable snail pull toy. It was a birthday gift from us, and he got it out on his own for the very first time yesterday and knew exactly what to do...

He literally walked his snail all around the house. It was super cute!

He even wanted to take his little friend outside to walk, but unfortunately, the rain and the cold kept them inside...

My buddy and me...

Bumps and Bruises

At this stage in Jake's life, it's unfortunately necessary to dedicate an entire blog entry to bumps and bruises. Our little guy falls pretty regularly. Even though he's a good little walker, I think his desire to constantly be on the move accompanied by his inattention to every detail around him results in some bumps, bruises and scratches. Lately, he'll acquire one wound, then just as it's healing, another appears. Of course, it seems these injuries all come to his head ;-( Yesterday, he got a brand new bruise. He just lost his balance in his room and fell right into the open door's edge. At least this time, there's no scratch accompanying it so I won't have to constantly apply Neosporin. I tried to take some shots fresh after the fall as he was eating his afternoon snack, so you'll see he's distracted by food. The scratch above his left eyebrow is from this past weekend, and is healing up pretty well. The new wound isn't as noticeable in the photo, but it's a bruise right in the middle of his forehead... You can see how it looks purple and blue in the center of his forehead...

I had to add this last photo, not so much to capture his bruise, but to show off those gorgeous eyelashes. He definitely doesn't know what a good thing he has...

In talking to other moms (especially moms to little boys), I'm finding we're not alone in this bumps and bruises stage of life. Something about little boys results in some injuries. We're doing our best to take the falls as they come, brush them off, and get right back up. Although, I will admit I'm a little worried about the type of injuries boys get at age 3....10....15...etc. I have a feeling this won't be the only stage of bumps and bruises!

Kitchen Helper

I'm pretty sure I've never posted a recipe or talked about my cooking on this blog, but yesterday I had a good cooking day that I just felt like sharing. Lately, I've been preparing most of our dinner meals during Jake's afternoon naps because it's really challenging for me to prepare the meal while he's awake vying for my attention. So immediately after I laid Jake down for his nap yesterday, I got to work. This meal idea came from two sources. The first was the leftover fresh vegetables I had from the veggies and dip I brought to a Super Bowl party. I had fresh broccoli, cauliflower, red bell pepper, carrot, cucumber and tomatoes. All these fresh veggies were staring at me from my fridge, and I wondered what I could do with them so that my family would actually want to eat them. Well, the answer came from source #2; a chef on the Today's Show highlighted kid friendly, healthy meals and he made a fried rice dish. Perfect! I love fried rice, Kevin loves fried rice and hopefully, Jake would too. I rarely cook anything Asian and have actually never cooked fried rice at home, so here was my first attempt.

First, I cooked cubed chicken breast seasoned with Lawry's Seasoned Pepper in a skillet. After the chicken was thoroughly cooked, I removed it from the pan and set it aside. Meanwhile, I cooked 6 servings of brown rice (I definitely wanted leftovers, and I had lots of veggies, so therefore I made lots of rice). I cut red bell pepper, onion and carrot into small pieces. For the broccoli and cauliflower, I decided to use my mini food processor. I wanted those veggies really small, because Kevin doesn't especially like them. I sauteed all the veggies with some minced garlic, added in the rice, cooked chicken, then a couple scrambled eggs cooked separately. I stirred it all together with soy sauce and pepper to taste. Voila!...Wednesday night dinner (plus enough leftovers for lunches)... I was especially proud of this dish because I'm finding it hard to always incorporate veggies in my meals, especially ones that Kevin doesn't particularly like (like broccoli and cauliflower). I really liked this because you could tell those veggies were in the dish, but you could not pick them out and they tasted good blended with everything else. Later, however, I did have a conversation with my friend, Chez, about the problem of the flavors in fried rice blending together rather than being able to distinguish the separate tastes. I agree that this is a downside to stir frying all the veggies together, especially having some cut so small. If you're willing and have the time, I'm sure the taste would be better if everything was cooked separately, then added. For me, though, it was good enough to cook the meat, eggs and veggies separate.

With the dinner meal out of the way waiting in the fridge for Daddy to come home, and Jake up from his nap, I was in the mood to make some banana bread. I LOVE banana bread, and only made it for the first time a couple weeks ago (baking is NOT my thing). I got the recipe from this blog. It's the "Banana Bread" recipe found under the breads link. I decreased the sugar and butter, and I think it's still scrumpious. As I earlier said, it's hard to cook with Jake around, so I tried something new. I wheeled his highchair in the kitchen, and he quickly became my little helper...
Of course, his best helping right now is keeping himself entertained with some kitchen tools. Although, I do have big plans of him really being my little helper. I want to do what I can to turn him into a man who can cook...

Here's the final product. Also, the original recipe says bake for 1 hour. Mine only baked for 50 minutes, and I still think it could have been reduced 5-10 minutes. Maybe because I used a dark pan...either way, beware of cooking time...

It looks and smells so good, we just couldn't wait until breakfast to dig in!

Busy in a good way

Yesterday Jake and I had a really busy day filled with lots of fun with friends. First off, my morning started with a special message from my two guys. Kevin didn't have to leave for work until 9, so he and Jake were able to have some fun morning play time, and I walked in to find this. (BTW, excuse Jake's crazy red eye. Often, his pictures come out with one really crazy red eye that won't fix itself while editing. I have no idea how to fix this.)Jake sends his love, even if he's just a little distracted by the TV.Later on, Jake woke up from his morning nap to discover he had lots of friends over to play. We had a fun time hosting our play group yesterday. Here's some of the kids hanging out...

Jake's friend, Colt, showed off his awesome drumming skills...

This little Peter Cottontail guy was a big hit and had a captive audience for several minutes. He sings a song and hops. The kids were mesmerized and kept pushing the button again and again to hear the song... We also got to visit our friends, Kim, Ryan and new baby Molly. Unfortunately, Jake decided to take his afternoon nap in the car rather than at home like I'd hoped, so I couldn't stay for long and didn't get any pictures. I did, however, stay long enough for baby Molly to fall asleep in my arms! Finally, we had our good friends, the Culps over for dinner. We used to belong to a care group that met at their house, and we totally miss them, so it was nice to have time together. Anyhow, quite a busy day, and we have something going on EVERY night this week (of course, two of those nights are basketball games), so the fun isn't over yet.

The darndest things

Kids just do the darndest things, don't they? As a mom, I've learned I have to be OK with never knowing what to expect. The latest darndest thing was a couple days ago when I was gathering things up to run an errand. Our dog, Skylar, knows exactly when it's time for her to go in her crate when we're leaving and will sometimes just go in on her own when she sees the signs of us getting ready to go. Well, Skylar had cozied up in her crate, and I was still getting some things ready, and the next thing I know, Jake had cozied up in there with her. This next shot is literally the position I first noticed them in. I didn't know whether to laugh or sigh with the cuteness and hilarity of it.
Jake seemed completely fine hanging out in there...

Actually, he even seemed more than fine, like he was totally enjoying himself. What a silly boy!

13 months

Jake turned 13 months old today. I decided I'm going to continue posting each month on his "birthday" until he turns 2. He's still my baby boy. It's increasingly more difficult to get a good pic, but here's our big 13 month old. Once again, the HEB Buddy balloon comes to the rescue for pictures...

Jake is such an amazing little boy. Yesterday, we were at Kevin's basketball game. By the 4th quarter, Jake could not stand to sit still in the bleachers anymore. No amount of snacks or coaxing could keep him still, so we were out in the hallway so he could walk around. As he was walking all around the halls looking as comfortable as can be, a gentleman said to me, "He looks like a handful." Well, maybe he is a handful, but in the best ways possible. I'm happy he's full of energy and loves to move around and see new things. I love the way he watches people and explores. I love that he has a mind of his own, even if that mind creates some challenges for us (like the little tantrums he can throw when he doesn't get his way). He's full of life and energy, but is also sweet, gentle and loving. I thank God for his unique personality everyday, and I'm happy to be mom to such a joyous "handful."

In the battle between boy and Rudy's cup...

...Rudy cup wins:-( Jake continues to love holding something in his hands as he walks around. One of his favorite things to play with and hold are plastic cups, like the kind from Rudy's. He likes to hold one to his mouth to pretend drinking and carry it around with him all throughout the house. The Rudy's cup was his "toy" of choice on Sunday morning. He was pretending to drink and had hold of it with his teeth when he suddenly lost his balance and hit the floor..with the cup still in his mouth. The result was lots of screaming and about a 1 1/2 inch circular mark on his forehead...the worst battle wound he has sustained thus far. I tried to get pictures to mark the occassion, but it's kind of hard to see with his bangs. Anyhow, here are some cute pics of our boy...

This last picture is an example of his "dribbling" skills. I've shared before that Jake is now dribbling, but I have to make it clear the ball never leaves his hands, although we're proud and impressed all the same. He holds on with the ball with both hands, walks a couple steps, then squats down to tap the ball against the floor. After a couple taps, he's back up, progressing to the goal. My little dribbler...