The staples

So apparently we're preparing for a snowmagedon here in the KC....

I've heard everything from 13-24 inches of snow by tomorrow night.

Joy.

So like any responsible adult, I stopped by the store to pick up the necessities in the unlikely event we actually get snowed in.

As busy as it was you'd think they were giving food away.

Most people were stocking up on the usuals..... milk and bread.

Boring.

Predictable.

Things I already had plenty of.

I left with Dr Pepper....and Cheetos.

Bring on the snow!



Is this thing on?

Whoops!  Apparently I decided to take a blog-cation last week.  This whole not being able to blog at work business is really cramping my style!  I have at least figured out how to read all of yours through Google Reader, but it doesn't let you comment.  Lame.  But I've been keeping up, promise!

In my absence not one but TWO lovely bloggers game me the Stylish Blogger award.  Thank you Mrs. M317 and Jeremy, Censie & Jude!   I'm flattered.  Especially since I've been rocking the wet pony tail and scrubs all week and have been anything but stylish....and my blog still thinks it's Christmas!  But I digress.  On to the award!

The rules?

1) link back and thank the fabulous person who bestowed said amazing award on you

2) share 7 things about yourself

3) award 15 other deserving and great bloggers

4) contact said bloggers to let them know of their award!

Seven things huh?  These lists gets tricky when you've been blogging as long as I have, so if some of these aren't new and mind boggling facts about me I apologize in advance!

1.  I rarely wear makeup.  And by rarely I mean practically never.  I have pretty decent skin and found if I wear makeup on a daily basis, no matter the kind, it causes me to break out.  So I'd rather rock a few natural imperfections on a day to day basis then have a bunch of zits that I'll really need to cover up.

2.  I don't like people to touch my left ear.  I had reconstructive surgery on it when I was 6 or 7 due to a birth defect and had to be completely mummy wrapped for a few weeks while it healed.  Ever since then I have this irrational fear that it's going to fall off.  Now I know this isn't really going to happen, but I still don't like people to touch it.

3. If I were to win the lottery tomorrow I'd quit my job and open a cloth diaper store.

4.  I don't actually buy lottery tickets....but have a laundry list of things I want to do when I win.

5.  If I could go back in time I'd tell 18 year old me not to be so dead set on finishing college in 4 years.  I wish I had done a semester abroad in London, but because of the way my major was structured it would have delayed my graduation by an entire year.

6.  I'm horribly stubborn and have a bit of a jealousy complex.

7.  Creme Brulee is my favorite dessert.  I have the fancy dishes and the little blow torch but I've still never even attempted to make it myself.

So now that you know a little bit more about me, I want to know more about you!  I've decided to tag my 15 newest followers friends.

Ashbash:) @ this lil heart of mine

SweetSpiller @ Shaping Shanna

Holly @ Running in Stilettos

Kara @ The Spaeths

Married....With a Pup

Christin @ A Classy, Southern Wife

Drew's Mom @ More than Enough

Laura @ My thoughts -- Uninterrupted

Steph @ The Johnson Family Zoo

Katie K. @ Katie's Journey

Marcy @ Marcy's Mazin' Moments

Jeni @ She's Getting Inspired

Lacey @ Bugs and Kisses

All right....that wasn't 15, but close enough!

Tasty Tuesday ~ Southwest White Chicken Chili (need your help!)

So I was hesitant to post this recipe because it was kind of a disaster.  Sounds delicious, even from the title, but upon execution it was kind of bland.  I even tried adding some more (and by more I mean A LOT) of seasoning, but it still came up short.  To the recipes defense, I decided to shred the chicken which I think soaked up what little liquid you add (Only 3/4 cup of water...really??)  To help this, I added more water which I think then made it too watery.  It was kind of a vicious cycle where I continued to botch our dinner over and over again.  Haha.  It was really just one big fat fail.  So to all those culinary genius folk out there....do you think this could be salvaged by making it as the recipe follows?  Or do you have a fabulous white chili recipe you could offer me instead??

Southwest White Chicken Chili

1 T vegetable oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes

4 tsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 large onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups frozen whole corn

2 cans (15 oz each) white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 T shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat oil in 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion and pepper and cook until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, stirring often.

2. Stir soup, water, corn and beans in saucepan and heat to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook 5 min, stirring occasionally.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Bon Appetite!!



Two family rooms....two couches!

So you all remember this post.

The one where the hubs and I moved our GIANT sectional couch upstairs?

We were seriously loving our new family room and I was ok with the fact that we may never actually have a couch for both the upstairs and the downstairs.

Well thanks to my dad Santa we were able to go on a little shopping spree to one of my favorite furniture stores.  We are now the proud owners of a new couch and man chair.

I love it.

Our other couch wasn't exactly what I had pictured for that room when I bought the house.

It made a much better man cave couch.

Especially since it was already well loved, I don't care what happens to it down there.

For upstairs I wanted something with a bit more style.

Something that made a slightly better impression as you walk in the front door.

Something that wasn't covered in 5 plus years of misc spills and mishaps.

I think this one fits the bill perfectly.

Plus it's super comfy...Jamie, Kasey and I may or may not have already taken a nap on it.

(pardon my dog......and his arse....didn't notice THAT when I took the picture)

And the man chair.  Well, that was a bit more of a concession.

When it comes to furniture I have taste and my husband does not we don't always see eye to eye.

See those fun printed pillows on the couch?  Well there was a fabulous chair in that same print.

The hubs said hell no how about we look for something else?

Sigh.  Fine.  I'm never going to get my fun print, polka dot chair.....

At least I was able to steer him far.....far.....far away from the barca loungers he was eyeing.

We ended up with this beautiful leather recliner with contrast stiching. (and no cupholders)

I think it was a pretty good compromise.

And we left the furniture store still married....so all in all it was a good trip to the Mart!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

 We're off to Ohio for the little mans first trip....and first plane ride!

Please dear God let it go well, I don't want to be THOSE people on the plane!

Hopefully there's a lot of this going on.....

Our bags are packed.

I hope and pray I haven't forgotten anything!

Though considering Jamie's suitcase is bigger than the hubs and I combined, I think we're safe!

And hopefully that blizzard that hit Kansas City last night doesn't slow us down.

Holy Snow!!

Yep...Brunettes definitely have as much fun!



Before

 My natural hair color these days is pretty dark brown.

(or so my roots tell me)

As a child I was blond.

I've had a hard time giving up my childhood and have had highlights for as long as I can remember.

Well this girl is saying no more!

With a baby and a full time work schedule, regular trips to the salon just weren't happening.

Case in point.  Jamie is 5 months old.  The last time I had my hair done I was still pregnant.

Yikes!  My roots were scary!

So Saturday I sat down in the chair and said, "Make me a brunette!"



After

The hubs claims to like it...or at least said, "if you're happy with it, that's all that matters."

Basically a nice way of saying, I don't hate it....but it's not my favorite look.

Whatever, I'll take it.  I knew going into my dark haired transformation that he was more of a blond lover, but he'll get over it. 

Jamie took one look at me, scrunched up his face and started screaming.

Well. 

Guess I know his response.

Though I honestly think he didn't recognize me at first and in the last week or so has developed a bad case of "stranger danger."  Joy.  A mama's boy already.  Once he finally figured out it was still me, I think he liked it!

Me?  I'm loving it.  And that's all that really matters anyway!

I think it really brings out my green eyes and my face doesn't looks so pale and washed out anymore.

Guess God knew what he was doing when he made this my natural color!

Tasty Tuesday ~ Ranch Macaroni & Cheese

When I first stumbled across this little gem of a recipe I was skeptical.  I mean, I love ranch....and I love mac & cheese, but together?  Yeah, it was delicious.  And I can be kind of funny about my mac & cheese, usually strictly a Kraft girl,  but this was pretty amazing.  Enjoy!

Ranch Macaroni & Cheese

I tried to get a good picture....apparently I failed, it tastes
MUCH better than it looks!

What you need:

1 pound macaroni

1 c milk

1/4 butter, cubed

1 envelope dry ranch mix

1/2 t garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups Colby Jack cheese

1 c sour cream

1/2 c crushed Ritz crackers

1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese

How you make it:

1. Cook macaroni according to package direction.  Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven combine the milk, butter, ranch, garlic powder, salt and pepper; heat through.  Stir Colby Jack cheese until melted.  Stir in sour cream.

2. Drain macaroni; stir into cheese sauce with the Ritz crackers.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bon Appetite!

What's up?! Jamie in the house!

 

Hello all!  Jamie here.....mom asked me to fill in since she never has time to blog anymore!  Would you believe her new job blocks blogger?  WHAT?!  Who does that?  It's so NOT cool!  They also block google reader so she can't even read all your blogs.  Lame.  She apologizes for being so MIA lately, but lucky for you I'm here!

Anyways.  Guess what?  I turned 5 months old on Sunday.  FIVE months?!  Where does the time go?!  It honestly hasn't been a horribly exciting month, not much has changed.  I'm still close to rolling over, I get 95% of the way there and then just roll back.  Mom is convinced it's because I'm not a fan of being on my tummy so why in the world would I purposely roll over.  She's so smart.  :)

I'm still mainly in 3-6 or 6 month clothes except for onsies which are 9 months and quickly becoming a stretch.  Mommy says I may be the first baby ever who needs 12 mos onsies but can still wear 6 mos pants and shirts.  What can I say, I have a loooong torso.  Shockingly I still wear 6 mos sleepers though so riddle me that.  And my diapers are officially on the middle snap setting.  For those non cloth diapers out there, my diapers grow as I grow so there's no need to buy more.  Pretty sweet huh?  How do you like my new duds?  Mom's got this weird thing for all things farm and cow print.  I just go with it. (Like I have a choice)

We played around with big boy solid foods this month.  Eh.  I'm not really into it.  We don't eat them everyday yet, just here and there.  I've tried rice cereal and oatmeal....green beans and sweet potatoes....pears, peaches, bananas and avocado.  I definitely like the fruits best, the veggies make me gag.  Literally.  Gag and choke.  Mom says I'm being awfully dramatic, whatever, she should try eating cold green beans with no seasoning.  Blech.  I will give her kuddos for going the homemade route though.  Full time working mama who cloth diapers and purees her own food, I'm one lucky guy.  My mom is like wonder woman.

I celebrated my first Christmas this month.  Santa brought me a Leap Frog Scout dog.  He says my name and sings awesome songs.  I love him.  This Santa guy is pretty cool.  I also got lots of books and clothes and toys from everyone else, it rocked.  Except for when mommy thought it was funny to stick bows all over my head.  Sigh.  I was NOT amused.

I rang in 2011 with Grandpa.  He babysat me all night long so mom and dad could go out for their anniversary.  How awesome is that?  It was my first whole night away from mom, but we both survived and I had a ton of fun with Grandpa...he bought me all sorts of fun things to keep at his house!  You can't tell, but my shirt says "Grandpa's Sidekick"

The most exciting thing that happened this month is I just got my first tooth!  Mom couldn't believe it...and the second one is getting ready to break through too.  Lucky for mom and dad I really wasn't too fussy, if mom wasn't a tooth dork dental hygienist who's always poking around in there she may not have even noticed.  I was stubborn though and wouldn't let her take a picture of it.  Does she always have to have the camera in my face?!  I'm such a big boy these days! 

See you all next month!

Snow Day!!!

About the only good that ever really comes from snow....are those rare snow days!

This morning I woke up to this....

Tried to go to work.

Spent over an hour on I-35 a parking lot where my speed never went above 5mph.

I went less than 5 miles before deciding this was stupid.

It was going to keep snowing all day with the heaviest scheduled to arrive just in time for the drive home.

No thanks.

I'm giving myself a snow day!

So I turned around, picked up Jamie....and headed home.

I plan on drinking a little lot of this....

Having one of these going all day long...

Catching up on some of this...

And hanging out with one of my favorite men!

Thank you lord for a much needed impromptu snow day....I knew I lived in the Midwest for a reason!

Mom Guilt

Long ago I came to the realization that unless we win the lottery....I will probably never be a stay at home.

I thought I was ok with this.

We don't really have a choice and not having children wasn't an option,

so working mom was my destiny.

The first five months haven't been so bad.

I trekked back to work at 6 weeks on the dot.

It was an awful day, but my mom was our babysitter so that helped.

I quickly got over leaving my little man everyday and even looked forward to a little adult time.

Then we lost my mom and quickly had to find a daycare.

I knew my mom wasn't going to watch him forever, so this was something I knew would happen eventually...it just happened a lot sooner that we thought and under some pretty crappy circumstances.

It was only 3-4 days a week.... I could handle that.

Well this week I started a new job.

Full time.

Five days a week.

9 hours a day plus a 30-45-60 min commute...each way.

It's finally hit home.

Every morning I leave and Jamie is usually still sleeping.

I race home from work....praying I make it by 6pm when daycare closes.

He's ALWAYS the last kid there.

Always.  Way to twist the knife a little bit deeper.  I'm THAT mom.

We rush home.  Eat some dinner.  Play for a bit.  Take a bath and off to bed by 7:30 or 8.

So I basically see my son everyday for about 1 1/2 -2 hours.

Enter mom guilt.

It sucks.

And I hate it.

Maybe I should start playing the lotto.