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Author: Andi

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Posted on October 18, 2011January 10, 2012 by Andi

I am a little behind in the food times, but I just recently learned the joy of sweet & spicy chicken. I first learned of this from the sweet & spicy wings from Applebee’s. After having these (and making “mmm” noises the whole time I ate them), I decided to find a recipe and try some sweet & spicy chicken at home.

It was fabulous!

I found this recipe and gave it a try. It was really easy and I happened to have everything I needed already.

mmmm! I’m hungry thinking about it. I think I’ll make it for dinner tonight! Smile

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8 Months Old

Posted on October 16, 2011April 5, 2016 by Andi

Time hasn’t halted. It is still flying by. Which means that my little peanut is 8 months old already! She is such a sweet little girl. We are so lucky to have such a happy, social, fun baby!

She started saying “mamamama”. She was saying only this consonant for a long time. She says it when she is playing and especially when she is eating. It’s really cute. Then I heard a couple little “ba ba” noises. And one day she found her tongue! She can’t stop moving it, making noises with it, sticking it out! It’s hilarious!

Here are a couple videos of Maddie saying “mama”. She quits doing the noises as soon as the video camera comes out!

Here is a video of Maddie clicking her tongue.

And here is a video of her newest noise….lalalala. This video cracks me up. She does this all the time. It’s hard to get a good video of her doing it, though. I’ve tried!

I have gotten Maddie on a good sleep and nap schedule. I really try to stick to it and get her naps in at the same time every day. I am quite proud of myself for doing this. I wasn’t sure I would be very good at sticking to a schedule. Smile

Just a couple days before she turned 8 months old, Maddie decided to start crawling on her hands and knees instead of army crawling around. It’s so cute. She isn’t very fast and looks a little uncoordinated doing it, but she is getting better every day!

Maddie stands at everything. She pulls herself up to walls, chairs, couches, her toys, your legs…. I got her a toy she can walk behind. It’s a little advanced for her yet, but she sure has a good time trying.

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She’s also gotten better about playing by herself. She doesn’t need me to sit there with her all day. It’s more comfortable to sit on the couch part of the day instead of the floor. Smile She just finds toys and bangs them together, crawls around with them, puts toys in bins or takes them out, plays with her books….it’s so fun to see her really turning into a little person.

We had to rearrange the furniture to keep her from playing with the curtains and getting into everything. She really keeps me on my toes. I am hoping I won’t be writing about her walking next month! I’m not ready for all this mobility! Smile

My baby is growing up so fast! I can’t believe 8 months has passed already. This day seemed so far away when we got home with her. I had no clue what to do with a baby. And look! I have a happy, healthy little girl who wants nothing more than to play with the neighbor kids and run! Oh man, do we have our work cut out for us with her! Smile 

Here are the rest of the pictures I have from the past month.

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A Great Decade

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Andi

One of our best friends moved to Seattle at the end of September. I put together a photo album for her and kept crying looking through pictures from the last 10 years. Kelly moved to Minnesota from Georgia and worked with Chuck at the U for many years. Then she started working at Microsoft with Chuck. It just isn’t the same for me that she isn’t here, but I am sure it’s very different for Chuck after working with her for so many years to not have her around.

We went out for a great meal (at Khan’s) before she left. Here are the few pictures we took.

We will miss you Kelly, but I know you’ll be back to visit and we will have to come visit you, too.

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A Schminke Visit

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Andi

Last weekend, Chuck’s cousin got married. We traveled an hour and a half to celebrate with them and introduce Maddie to some family members she hasn’t met yet. The most excited of which were Chuck’s grandma and grandpa…Maddie’s great-grandparents.

Side note…All four of Chuck’s grandparents are still living. I am so envious of this since my grandparents all died many years ago. And I am so happy that Maddie gets to meet her great-grandparents. What a special thing!

Any how….grandma and grandpa came up here to visit with Maddie more after the wedding (they live in Iowa). They loved seeing her and playing with her. I really hope we will get to see them more during the coming holiday season.

Here are a few pictures of Maddie with her great grandparents.

Grandpa was sticking his tongue out at Maddie and she was copying him. It was really cute!

I don’t think grandma stopped smiling at Maddie the whole time. It was great to see them and I’m happy they got to spend time with Maddie!

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Mayhem

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Andi

Oh my goodness. I love the Allstate Mayhem commercials. I just saw this one and couldn’t stop laughing, so I thought I would share. Smile 

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Hanging With a Future Hubby

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Andi

Yes, I am already arranging marriages for Maddie. She has been promised to a number of little boys. This may pose a problem when she gets older. We might have to have an auction for her hand or something. Smile 

We went to one of my best friend’s houses for dinner last week and she has a little boy who is a couple months older than Maddie. They had loads of fun together!

I think they like each other!

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Play Dates

Posted on October 5, 2011April 5, 2016 by Andi

We have had a couple play dates with Trisha and Chelsea lately. A few weeks ago, they came over and played. Both girls were really into eating puff cereal. Trisha took out a container of them, and both girls went over to her and looked at her like they were little puppies begging for food. Smile 

Then, the other day, we met them at the Mall of America to have lunch. We had the girls in high chairs and couldn’t get over how big they are getting.

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It’s so fun to get the girls together to play. They were born only a few weeks apart and it’s so fun to see them growing up. Plus, I like going to hang out with friends for some adult interaction. Smile

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Tree Fort

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Andi

My dad was over one day and told me that I had to go to a garage sale he drove past on the way over because he saw the cutest thing for Maddie. He wasn’t kidding. I walked over there and I was sold! I was sold before I even saw the price tag. For only 5 buckeroos, I got this adorable little tree fort for Maddie!

Maddie loves it. We have since moved it to the upstairs playroom and it isn’t sitting in our living room anymore. And yes, Maddie is playing with a spoon. It made her happy. Smile

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7 Months Old

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Andi

I am really late in doing my 7 month post. Maddie is quickly approaching 8 months old and I haven’t even wrote about her being 7 months old! Yikes!

Time is flying! She is changing every day! She is climbing up everything….the couch, chairs, toys, laundry baskets, my legs…she is so busy! She has really learned that when she sees something she can go after it. She really likes to crawl to Chuck’s tools that are out from working on the porch. She also will immediately crawl to any shoes that are left in her sight. I’m not sure it’s good that she is obsessed with shoes at only 7 months old! Smile 

I love how much her eyes light up when Chuck walks into the room. It’s so very sweet!

Maddie has started to snuggle just a little bit. Mostly when she is sleepy, but I’ll take any snuggling I can get!

Maddie is sitting on her own and bounces when she sits. It’s very cute. She loves to play peek-a-boo and loves when I read books to her. And she is also sitting in her crib now. So we had to lower the mattress in her crib so she won’t leap out!

She is also an extremely happy baby. Every comments on how happy she is!

Maddie also got two tiny little teeth, her bottom, middles ones on the same day. They came in just shortly after her 6 month doctor’s appointment.

Here are some pictures. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures in her crib this month. I just kept forgetting and putting Maddie in her crib doesn’t make her happy since she thinks it’s time to sleep. So here are a couple others.

Maddie wasn’t happy in this last picture…but you can see her teeth! Smile

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Crock Pots Rule

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Andi

All other ways of cooking…well, they just don’t rule! I have rediscovered the joy of the crock pot. I am not sure why I didn’t use this every night when I was working. It’s the most wonderful thing. It is so nice to put something in the crock pot while Maddie naps…and I have a second when I’m not chasing her around the house….and then have the house smell great all day!

First, I made some spaghetti sauce in the crock pot with the last of my tomatoes. I harvested the last of my tomatoes before the big freeze last week and had WAY more tomatoes than I knew what to do with.

Add onions, peppers, garlic and a little oil to the crock pot and let it cook down a bit.

Then I chopped up my tomatoes (I had cherry tomatoes, so I quartered them). Also, I would use regular tomatoes next time and take out the seeds before I put them in the crock pot. And I would probably remove the skins, too.

After I put the tomatoes in the pot, I added seasonings.

 

Stir it all together and let it cook for a couple hours.

Then I used my immersion hand blender and mixed it all together. I was happy that when I did this, the blender also removed the skins easily.

It was nice and blended and then I added some tomato paste to thicken it up a bit.

Then I put it in some containers to freeze.

It tasted great, but I wasn’t a fan of the seeds in the sauce. My dad LOVED it, though! I sent some home with him to enjoy!

——-

That was last week. This week I made these:

Chicken Parmesan

Lime Garlic Chicken With Rice

Herbed Turkey & Wild Rice Casserole (This was a recipe meant for just two people.)

And tonight I made a pot roast and used the recipe off the back of an onion soup mix box.

I think this was my first time making a pot roast (sad, I know), but I am going to make this ALL the time! YUM!

Tomorrow, I plan to make French Dip Sandwiches.

I have a number of other recipes I want to try (Beefy Mac & Cheese, Cajun Chicken Pasta, lasagna…mmm) and I am so very excited!

Do you have any go-to crock pot recipes I should try? Please send them my way!

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