Oriental Ramon Slaw


I know, I know... another recipe, but I love food and cooking. I love looking for new recipes and finding ones that I want to keep in my recipe vault. This will definitely be one of them! This is so easy and perfect for a change from a boring salad.



Oriental Ramon Slaw

2 (3 ounce) packages beef-flavor ramen noodles
2 (8 1/2 ounce) packages coleslaw mix
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup white vinegar

Directions:

Before opening noodles, crush into 1 inch pieces. Open packages and set aside flavor packets. Place noodles in bottom of large serving bowl. Top noodles with broccoli slaw, then sprinkle with almonds and sunflower kernels, and green onions. In a separate bowl combine sugar, oil, vinegar, and flavor packets from noodles. Pour over slaw, cover and chill. Toss before serving.

Enjoy! 
Let me know what you think.

Grace's First Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!! We had so much fun this Thanksgiving!! I am discovering that holidays are so much fun with a baby! I love dressing her up and showing her off. I am so blessed that she is not shy and loves being around people. She rarely is upset unless it is food time or nap time. 


How cute is that dress?! I love it so much!

I love being married for a lot of reason, one is that I have two wonderful families! This year we went to my parents on Thursday and had Thanksgiving with the whole family!


Friday morning we headed up to the mountains for more Thanksgiving fun with the McKenzies!


I found her precious little hat at a yard sale before she was born. A lady had made them and was trying to sell them! I got a deal for fifty cents!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all your loved ones!
Now let the Christmas Season begin!!

The Best Homemade BBQ

In our house we love BBQ! When we moved to South Carolina it took us a long time before we found good BBQ. Then when we did... it was so expensive. I had to find a way to make it myself. Here is my easy homemake BBQ.



Homemade BBQ

1 Boston Butt (needs to have at least one side of fat)
1 liter coke
Salt to taste
BBQ sauce (your favorite kind)

Put the meat in the crock pot with the fat side up. Pour the coke in until it just covers the meat. Salt the meat a little. Set the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Once the meat is cooked pull the meat out and shred and make sure to throw out all the fat. Pour the BBQ sauce on to taste and salt more. 

Enjoy!
Let me know what you think!

Month 3 Must Haves

This past few months hav flown by! I can not believe how quickly baby Grace has grown. There are not too many days that go by that I do not have to pack up more clothes that she has out grown.

When I was thinking about what to include in this month... There were so many things that I wanted to include from previous months: soothie pacifiers, pack n play, desitin, diaper genie and more. These are the things I could not have lived without this month:

1. Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bags- Your worst nightmare when pumping is losing milk after pumping. I will be honest pumping STINKS!! It is so much more enjoyable to nurse your little one. Of course to let daddy feed her or grandma so mommy can have a break it is a necessary evil. These bags a  keep your treasured milk in the freezer so you never need to throw out milk.



2. Munchkin Bath Pad- Grace's legs were hanging out of the little bath tub, and one of my very good friends had given me this and told me it was one of her must haves. Now I know why. This is so easy to lay in the bottom of the tub and wash her down and she can kick in the water and play. It is also very portable. 


3. Safety First Humidifier- Now that we have had to turn on the heat it really dries her out. I have this set up right next to her crib and it has made a big difference in her breathing and of course it is cute and pink!


4. Fisher Price Kick and Play Chair- We went to go visit some friends and they had this chair and it has been a life saver! This is how I am able to take a shower, cook dinner, and even eat. She stays entertained for a good while. I also feel that it is helping with her motor skills. She has to learn that she had to kick to make noise and light up. She just smiles and sings every time she sits in it!


5. Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Lotion- I think this stuff really does help her sleep and it smells so good!


Hope this is helpful! Now this is just my opinion and what has worked for us. I really have gotten much of my advice from other experienced moms. If you have any other products that are must haves or that you and your little one love, feel free to post them in the comments, especially for the upcoming months.

Month 3


We are 3 months old! 
Weight 14 lbs 75%

Milestones:
- Rolling over from stomach to back
-Chewing on fingers
-Holding head up constantly
-Wants to be held up to look around

Mommy Update:
My tailbone is doing much better. I am now able to walk, sit and most importantly RUN!! I have currently only made it 2.5 miles, but the important thing is that I can do it. The only thing that really makes the pain flare back up is sitting in the car for any amount of time. The pain comes rushing right back. So needless to say I stay about for the car as much as possible. Due to the fact that I am feeling better and more mobile now I have currently lost... wait for it... 41 pounds! I am really proud of myself! I still have 8 more to and and some much needed toning. 

Our Schedule...

Oh my, where has the time gone? Baby Grace is already two months old and it is so hard to believe. In the first couple weeks I just wanted time to stand still and her to stay as a newborn, but as she grow and changes I fall more in love every day! I now love to watch her grow literally in front of me.

Now she is smiling and interacting with me as we play. I can not explain to you how it melts my heart when she smiles when I walk into the room.

Here is a look into our typical day...

2:00-5:00am: She wakes up sometime for her nighttime feeding. Throughout the night she might wake up a few times grunting, sighing and farting but never really wakes up, but of course wakes her mommy up. She currently sleeps in our room in her bassinet on the pack in play, swaddled with a swaddle me. We have tried not swaddling her, but that does not work and we will continue this until she sleeps better. She eats at this time and then because of her acid reflux I hold her upright for about 20 minutes while she sleeps until I put her back in her bassinet.

5:00-7:00am: She wakes up again usually because she had to pass gas and her daddy gets her up now and holds her until around 7 when he has to get ready for work. Most of the time she falls back to sleep on his chest and they have daddy daughter cuddle time. At 7 I get back and nurse her in bed while I am half asleep. I don't know about you, but when I wake up I am so hungry so I am just waiting for her to finish eating so I can go eat! After she is done nursing, she sits in her play chair while I eat. We talk and play before she goes back to sleep around 8:30. She naps for around 30-45 minutes and we play until it is time to eat again.




9:30am: She eats again and after nursing we either go outside on a walk. Grace loves her stroller and looking at all the trees, especially this time of year.

12:00pm: Another feeding time. After this is tummy time, playing with toys, and reading books. I also try to get some housework done at this time. She watches me vacuum, fold clothes, clean dishes, and all the other things I need to do.



(Here are some of our favorite books)

2:30pm: Yet again another feeding and by this time she is pretty tired so we do our errands or just go somewhere to get out of the house at this time. If we keep moving she will sleep till around 4 or so. If we stay at home it is a fifty fifty chance that she will sleep that long. Whatever nap she does get is when mommy prepares dinner for the evening.




(Here are some of her favorite toys)

5:00pm: Dinner time for Grace. After this feeding we are anxiously awaiting when daddy will get home from work! His work hours vary greatly, so this might mean 5:30 or it could mean 7? When he gets home I have everything ready for dinner and we sit and eat. We have found a good use why he is left handed and I am right... We sit at the table with Grace in her chair between us so I can attend to her with my left hand and Michael can attend to her with his right hand. The older she gets the less we have to attend to her and she will just play.





7:15pm: Bath time! Grace loves bath time! She plays and laughs and does not mind it at all. Just a few nights ago we moved from the sink to the big girl bath tub. She no longer fits into the baby tub any longer :( It sure is a lot easier to in the sink though, because you don't have to lean over. After bath, pjs and swaddled. She will them nurse for 30-45 minutes till she falls asleep. Once she is really asleep she is down for the night. Then we begin all over again :)




I know, that is one heck of a schedule. I really tried to set the feeding time for my own sanity, but the rest just kind of fell into place. I definitely do not live by this schedule, but I do keep to the feedings pretty strictly. ( Mostly because a little one will make sure I do) This works well for us, I would love to hear any fun ideas and activities that you love to entertain your little ones! 

Life Lately...

I could not be more in love with my little bundle of joy! I do not want to overwhelm you with pictures of our little girl, but I just wanted to share...


This was the weekend Uncle Oliver and Aunt Callie came to visit!


She is all ready to go help daddy work in the yard. We bought 13 trees to plant in our yard, I know that sounds like a lot, but we have big plans.


She has grown to have such a big personality. She is laughing and talking all the time.



Time for Holidays

One of my favorite things during the holiday season is to walk inside and drink in the smell of the season. Unfortunately this usually means running a candle all the time, baking all the time, or having some kind of spray that you have to continually spray. Who has time for all of that?!?! Well I have found a solution to your problems... The Candle Warmer!!! I have been looking for one of these for a while. I finally found it at Bed Bath and Beyond for $6. (What a bargain!) This way you can burn a candle constantly, but never have to buy another one. You only have to have one candle per season. 


This what my house smells like currently! I love it! 
Let the holidays begin!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins



These muffins were a hit! I made them to take over to my husband's office and they were gone in a couple hours! They make you feel like fall has finally arrived!

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups flour ( I used half white, half whole wheat)
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups.
FILLING: Beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth. Set aside.
STREUSEL TOPPING: Mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
MUFFIN BATTER: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and gradually incorporate eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth. Fill cups with pumpkin mixture until they're about 1/2 full. Carefully add one tbsp of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. If you're using paper cups, try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper. Sprinkle on the streusel topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Grace's First Halloween

We decided this Halloween to stay inside and pass out candy. We loved seeing our neighbors and all the little costumes. My favorite ones were the kids across the street dressed as pirates. Of course all costumes did not even come close to my little ones costume that even glowed in the dark!


I hope you had a wonderful Halloween! I love looking at the cute baby costumes out there. Now that Halloween in over it is officially the holidays and I can not wait to decorate! 'Tis the season to be Merry!!!


Hi! I'm Katie. Wife to Michael. Mom to Grace, David Michael & Emma. Christ Follower. Runner. Stay at home mommy.



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