Valentines/Easter table runner

I finished up my little sewing project just in time for Valentine's Day! I finished it this morning (I had the fabric for about 2 weeks) so it will only get to be out for one day, but the good thing is that the table runner is a double holiday print! I have Valentine's Day on one side and Easter on the other! It only cost me about $14 to make a 2 holiday table runner. Not too bad. I made this runner from no pattern. I just kind of winged it and it turned out pretty good. Just wish it was a little longer. I am going to make one for the next 2 holidays (maybe a 4th of July one and just a fun summer print?) and that one should turn out much better. You learn from your mistakes. Can't wait to sew again. I am really starting to love it. The fabric is all too cute and I like the challenge of trying to figure out if everything will turn out right once you put the last stitch in! I really need to invest in a rotary cutter, cutting board and rulers. My struggle with this project was getting the lines straight.

Side 1 for Valentine's Day

Side 2 for Easter 

These little chicks are so cute!

My mommy sent me a Valentine's Day card in the mail with some cash in it! I loved how she kissed the back of the envelope! SWAK!

Loaded baked potato soup

Tonight I made loaded baked potato soup that I got out of my Cook's Country cook book. I have been loving my Cook's Country cook books. I have five of the books, they come out with a new one every year, and they are my go to cook books. I love having actual cook books that I can look through and find recipes. If I go online and try to find a recipe for something, there are SO many websites with recipes, I just get lost and it takes me longer to find a recipe because I get sidetracked (hmmmm... maybe someone put something interesting on Facebook in the past 5 seconds!). I also love Cook's Country because everything that I have made was really good! They are kind of pricey, but I don't buy them the year they came out. I want and they discount them 6 months or so after they first come out.

So tonight I made loaded baked potato soup and it was awesome! It was very rich and called for a lot of cheese (I loooove cheese, especially extra sharp cheddar cheese!), but it is not something that I will make all the time. I used vegetables from my Bountiful Baskets from last week. I made a few changes to the recipe and I will list my changes at the end.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup (from Cook's Country 2006 book)

8 oz. bacon, chopped
*3 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed
*1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
*1 sprig fresh thyme
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus additional for garnish
1 cup sour cream, plus add. for garnish
Pepper
*3 scallions, sliced thin
(items with * are things that were from Bountiful Baskets <3)

1. Cook bacon in dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. While bacon is cooking, use  vegetable peeler to remove wide strips of potato pell, reserve peels. Cut peeled potatoes into 3/4 inch pieces. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels. Add reserved potato skins to bacon fat in pot and cook until crisp, about 8 minutes. Use slotted spoon, transfer potato skins to plate with bacon.
2. Add onion to fat remaining in pot and cook over medium heat until golden, about 6 minutes. Stir in garlic and flour and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in broth and cream, stir in thyme and potatoes, and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 7 minutes.
3. Discard thyme and transfer 2 cups of cooked potatoes to bowl. Puree remaining soup in batches in blender until smooth. Return to pot and warm over medium heat. Off heat, stir in cheese until melted, then whisk in sour cream. Return reserved potatoes to pot and season soup with pepper. Ladle soup into bowls, garnishing with bacon, fried potato skins, scallions, cheese and sour cream.

Kelly's changes:
- I didn't use russet potatoes, I just used what I had.
- I didn't have 4 cups of chicken broth, so I just used 3 cups and 1 cup of water
- I didn't have fresh thyme but I did have fresh oregano, so I used that.
- I used low fat sour cream
- When I added pepper, I also put some splashed of Cholula (hot sauce). This is my moms secret ingredient to most of her recipes. It gives whatever your making a little kick and adds some major flavor!
- Next time I won't worry about the potato skins. We didn't like them added to the soup.

Just a few of the ingredients - the yellow things on the cutting board are potatoes 

The not so yummy potato skins frying. They ended up in the trash afterwards.

Moms cooking! Where is Deegan? Playing in the living room. He was being a good boy!

But he got hungry and was ready to for some dinner, so he hung out with me in the kitchen.

Almost done! Potatoes are cooking.

Ready to eat! It was so yummy! Better then Marie Callendar's potato cheese soup!

For dessert I made some chocolate covered apples and oranges, of course from Bountiful Baskets

The weekend is here!

Deegan is FINALLY in bed! Well he has been in bed for about 30 minutes. He napped for only 30 minutes today! I think he is starting to transition from 2 naps a day to just 1. It has been going on for over a week. I keep trying to see if I can get him back on schedule but I think he is done. So tomorrow we won't do the morning nap at 9am, I will just try to put him down in the afternoon around 11ish. We will see how it goes. It will take me awhile to get use to a new schedule. I am so use to 12-3 is the time we go out and run errands and play.

Today we went to the park with the mommy group. I didn't take any pictures. It is hard to take pictures with an almost 13 month all over the place! We had a great time. It is so nice to get out of the house and see friends. I made chocolate covered bananas with Valentine's Day sprinkles on them. They were yummy! There were other goodies there too! Cupcakes, cookies, rice crispy treats....yum!

Tomorrow I have to pick up our Bountiful Baskets. I have shared it for the past 2 weeks, so I am excited to get our own. I still have 2 things from last week we need to finish (cantaloupe and cauliflower). This week I bought 39 pounds (yes pounds!) of oranges! But I am sharing it with 4 other people, so it isn't too bad. It will only be $3.70 per person. Oranges can be expensive!

This weekend I am going to make a to-do list for Kevin and I. Well, it is really just for Kevin but I will help. On the weekends, he sometimes "forgets" about some things that needs to get done around the house. I guess it is just me but I am always busy and always looking for things to do! Our list will include-

1. Take pictures of things to sell on craigslist. We have an old desk and tires we need to get rid of.
2. Work on Deegan's play area in the backyard. I want to get something to cover the dirt and rocks and maybe paint the fence that Kevin made. We might also go get him a slide, since we have about $40 store credit to Wal-mart.
3. I know I had a 3rd thing but can't think of it now.  

We were talking about the next time we were going to go to California. Maybe Easter weekend. My 29th birthday is Saturday the 23rd and Easter is the next day. I would love to do an Easter egg hunt at my parents house with all of Deegan's cousins and friends! He should be walking by then!

Visit with Grandma

Last weekend my mom came out to visit Deegan and I. Kevin was in Orange County, so it was just us 3. We went to Hobby Lobby and the outlets for some shopping. We watched "The Kids are Alright" and "Kings Speech" when Deegan was in bed each night. Both good movies! I love that my mom is a hands on grandma and gets on the ground and plays with Deegan. We already miss her and can't wait to see her again! We might be in Orange County for Easter.

She was trying to turn his head so he would look at the camera

He loves when she whispers in his ear

Patty Cake?

I took these pictures a few weeks ago. Deegan looked like such a big boy eating his snacks and watching Elmo in this bean bag chair. We bought him his chair for his birthday. We got it at Target for $25. He doesn't use it too much yet, but I am sure he will.

Little Savana was sunbathing today and I snapped this photo! She is too cute. I was just thinking about how small she was when we got her 4 years ago. She was only 3 pounds when we got her! She is now like 11.

I made low-fat broccoli cheese soup for dinner tonight from scratch. It was really good and didn't taste low-fat! I just wish it was a little thicker. Kevin liked it, that is all that mattered. Deegan wasn't a fan of it! I was surprised, he likes everything!

Help! I'm standing and I can't get down!

So Deegan has been pulling himself up and standing (while holding on to something) for about a month now. And he still hasn't figured how to get down!! Yes, he will just stand there and stand there until someone helps him. The other day he stood there for 10 minutes just whinning because he couldn't figure out how to get down. He can get down from toys that aren't that tall but the doggie gate is really high and he can't figure it out! I have even been bribing him with food and snacks to have him get down. I took these pictures the other day on my phone. 

Nothing is working! So I have decided that it is just not that big of a deal. I was putting all of his favorite toys in front of him to see if he would figure out how to get down but nope. I thought that once he figured it out he would be a pro at it. I keep showing him how to get down. I help him bend his knee and lower his body, but I think it just scares him. Maybe he will start walking before he even learns how to get down! Maybe he will never learn the skill of how to get down! haha. The thing that sucks about it is he stands in his crib and I have to go in there and help lay him down. 10 minutes is the max I will let him cry/whine standing up. 

The one good thing about him standing and not being able to get down is that if he is standing at a toy, the doggie gate or the TV stand, I know if I walk away or run upstairs, he will be in the same spot that I left him! He may cruise a little along the thing he is holding on to but he doesn't go to far. 

Anyone has any suggestions on how I can help teach him this skill?

My mom will be here in about 30 minutes! Can't wait to spend the weekend with her! It will just be me, her and Deegan. Kevin left last night and flew out to Orange County. He will be back on Sunday night. We had one roundtrip plane ticket that was about to expire, so we decided it would be good for him to have a little weekend getaway (I hope my turn is next! I don't want a whole weekend to myself but maybe just one whole day!). Not sure what my mom and I are going to do but we will find stuff. I know I am going to take her to Hobby Lobby since she has never been. Might also go clothes shopping with her because she will be my "personal shopper". She does this when she goes shopping with her sister. The other person is in charge of holding the purses, clothes, helping you put the clothes back on the hangers, grabbing you different sizes and also picking out clothes that you might not normally wear. It makes shopping much easier! I hate trying on clothes!

My mom and I at Cracker Barrel in St. George, UT in 2006

Happy Birthday Elmo!

Picture taken from http://www.facebook.com/Elmo

Today is Elmo's birthday! Elmo is Deegan's buddy. We watch the same Elmo's World DVD over and over. It is the only thing that will keep him in one spot for about 30-45 minutes so I can get stuff done! It is a life saver. He always laughs at the same parts. I need to take a video of it. There is a part when Mr. Noodle makes a rooster sound and Deegan always gets excited. He knows a few seconds before it happens that it is his favorite part. We have tried Disney movies and he didn't care too much for them, we have tried Baby Einstein and he doesn't care. He will watch a little of Nick Jr but that doesn't last long. I am glad that he doesn't want to sit and watch movies all day long, because we like to play! He only watches the Elmo DVD once a day or every other day. The TV is really never on in our house. Elmo is also nail clipping time! He will sit still long enough for me to trim them real quick. We took some pictures today with his Elmo toys. Elmo is 39 years old today...but really he is only 3 1/2.

He has a little rash on his cheek :-(

I love my lovey!

Deegan has falling in love! Just in time for Valentine's Day!

He has falling in love with a soft, white blanket! About a month ago I noticed he really enjoyed cuddling with this white blanket that was in his crib. So I started letting him hold it each night during storytime. Then I soon realized he liked to find the soft satin corners and rub it with his fingers. In the mornings when I would go in this room to get him, he would just be laying on his back, holding this white blanket and slowly rubbing and playing with the corner of the blanket. After seeing this going on for about a month, I realized that it has became his lovey!

I never really heard about "loveies" until I met some moms in my mommy group. They would talk about their babies loveies and I didn't really know what they were talking about. He received 2 loveies at his baby shower. He got one that was a teddy bear that was attached to a small blanket and he received Mousey from Aunt Crissy. He never really attached to either one of those. I was sad that he didn't like Mousey. Aunt Crissy searched all of NYC to find him the perfect mouse stuffed animal. She has one growing up and wanted Deegan to have the same. Mousey is in his crib every night, but he never played with it too much. He would hold Mousey and sometimes chew on his tail, but that was it. Mousey was even at the hospital with him. I will keep trying with Mousey. Mousey is also used for Deegan's monthly photos on the couch.

1 day old with Mousey. I remember Kevin and I saying that Mousey was like twice the size of Deegan when he was born.

Deegan at 4 months old with Mousey

11 months old...look how much he has grown!

Where did we get this white blanket? Well we actually have 2! That is very important in the lovey world.  In case it is in the washer, you have a backup....or maybe it gets lost or damaged. I received these blankets from The Mirage. When I worked in Employee Services we would give baby gifts to employees that just had babies. I got one of the blankets from the baby gift when Deegan as born and the other one I stole because they were so soft I wanted it! Haha! Yes, I was 20 something years old and I wanted a lovey too! The blanket was just the perfect size to take on small trips or in the car. I took the little white blanket with me when I went to NYC to see Crissy when I was 6 months pregnant. It was perfect to cuddle with on the airplane and didn't take up too much space in my bag. So mommy's lovey is now Deegan's lovey!

So Deegan's new thing with the blanket is to rub the soft satin corner on his nose! He takes it with his little fingers and pinches it and will rub the corner on the tip of his nose. My cousin, Mitchell, did that when he was little! So when I first saw Deegan do it, it made me think of Mitchell. I was about 13 years old when Mitchell was born. By the time I was 15 he was 2 years old and I would babysit him and his older sister a lot. So I remember seeing Mitchell with his blanket with the corners all dirty and fraying because he would always hold the corners and rub it. It is so cute to see Deegan doing it!