Ryan's 1st Thanksgiving

We had Joe, Jake's dad, over for Thanksgiving lunch. It was my first time making a holiday meal for company! We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls and fruit salad. I forgot to make the corn. Oops.

Ryan LOVED eating the Thanksgiving meal! He wasn't too sure about the big turkey before it got cut up...

...but once he tasted it, a long with all the other goodies, he was instantly a fan. And it totally wore him out, too.

We tried getting a nice picture of him with Grandpa Joe, but Ryan wasn't too excited about that, either. 

I personally think this is the best one, but Grandpa begs to differ. Too bad, my blog :]

<3

What traditions do you have for your little ones during Thanksgiving?

{ embrace the camera : 11.17 }

Linking up with Emily for Embrace the Camera...

I knew this day was coming... this month would be here before we knew it. My friend just had her baby... and 9 months ago, when she told us she was expecting, I thought to myself... "Ryan is going to be 9 months old when her baby comes! Whoa! That seems so far away..." but I knew it would be here before I realized it. Well, her baby is here... and my baby is 9 months old.

And as someone said here, he's been an outside baby as long as he was an inside baby, give or take. ;]

Thinking back over the last 9 months... and all that we've been through, or are going through, as parents... I can't help but get a little emotional at all the "growing up" my little boy has done. It makes my heart so happy to see him thriving and loving life.

He's gotten a lot more snuggly lately.

I guess, that when he was a baby and couldn't "go" anywhere, he seemed snuggly then... because I held him a lot.  

But now that he's mobile and on the go, he actually comes to me for hugs and lovin'. He lays his head on my shoulder and just looks at me with his big brown eyes.

{rubbin' my hand... "it's okay, mama, i'll be your lil' guy forever!"}

 

 

I love the sleepy, snuggly moments we have together. I really do treasure them. And I'm trying to treasure everything... even the middle-of-the-night wakings, and diaper changing battles, and when I feel like I just need 5 MINUTES ALONE... I know that one day, I'm going to miss it all. I try to remember that all of these opportunities are God-given appointments that he has blessed me with to help grow, shape and mold this little guy.

Oh, I just love him!

{ 9 months old }

Ryan is 9 months old! We've known him on the outside as long as we did on the inside... give or take ;] I don't know his "official" stats this month, so this is an {educated} guess... I don't really feel like taking him in to the clinic and exposing him to all the sick people there just to get a weight reading!

16lbs, 4oz

28 3/4" 

He wears mostly 6-9 month clothes (6 month onesies, but anything with "feet" needs to be 9 months because he is so long).

Things he loves:

BATHTIME! Any time I wash the dishes, he gets mad because he thinks he is getting a bath! Baths have definitely become a daily (or twice daily, if he is having one of "those" days) thing for him.

{I should start putting dishes away before he gets a bath, but he loves digging out everything on the other side of the sink}

KITCHEN UTENSILS! I've been looking here and there for small extra kitchen "things" for him to play with. I plan on cleaning out one of the kitchen cupboards so he has a space to "destroy" while I'm in the kitchen.

 

CLIMBING! He is really turning into a little monkey :]

PLAYING "SOOOO BIG!" It's fun that he "gets it" now ;]

MAKING SILLY FACES! He's a natural.

EATING! Here he is eating home made guacamole. He LOVES it. He's really been enjoying eating in general lately... some of his favorite things right now{besides guac} are raisins, rice Chex, waffles and the rice bowl with chicken from Chiptole {complete with corn salsa!} ;]

WATCHING OUR EVERY MOVE! Ryan loves to be around people {except when he needs to relax; he likes his alone time and being in his own space, just like his mama!}... so he is always following me or his daddy around to be with us. Here he {joined with the kitties} was watching me clean the outside of our glass door.

STANDING! AHH! He doesn't do it all the time yet, but when he wants to, he can stand on his own {and play with toys at the same time!} He's going to be walking before we know it!!

That's all for now... off to love on my little guy who just woke up from a nap!

Cheddar and Herb Biscuits {yum!}

photo source

Oh my. I made these last night to go with our BBQ chicken. They were {and are, as I am eating one for breakfast as I type this...} soooo good. They were so good, that I didn't even stop to take a photo of them.

Hence the photo above, borrowed from the original source of the recipe.

You really have to try these! Some say they are comparable to the Red Lobster biscuits... but, I don't like seafood {even the smell gets me}, so I've never stepped foot inside a RL.

I wish I had another one...

Cheddar and Herb Biscuits

INGREDIENTS:

{biscuits}
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
3 tablespoons butter, cold
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

{buttery topping}

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, garlic powder and salt. Cut in shortening and butter until coarse crumbs are formed. Lightly mix in grated cheese. Mix in buttermilk just until moist (dry spots here and there are ok – the biscuits will be tough if they are overmixed). Drop the biscuits onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until browned and golden. While the biscuits are baking, in a small bowl combine the buttery topping ingredients. Right when the biscuits come out of the oven, brush the butter/herb mixture over the biscuits evenly (alternately, you can dip the top of the biscuit into the butter mixture). Serve immediately.

Makes about 10 biscuits.

My alterations:

I don't have any garlic powder, so I used garlic salt and omitted the salt {in both the biscuits and the buttery topping}. I also don't buy buttermilk, but you can make a sour milk yourself by adding one tablespoon of vinegar {or lemon juice} to a measuring cup and filling it with milk to equal one cup. I added a lot more parsley, and will probably add more herbs the next time I make them... because, yes, there will definitely be a next time!!

Sophie and Bella

That's what we named our kittens, who unfortunately aren't very kitten-y anymore. I guess that's what happens when you feed and water something... it grows!

{ sophie }

{ bella... she tends to look like she maybe has had a liiiittle too much catnip }

{ oh, bella, that's better }

{ "one of these things is not like the other..." }

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

{this is a post from about three months ago. for whatever reason, i forgot to post it. so don't come to my house expecting there to be chocolate cookies. kthanks.}

 

My husband said to me the other day, "You should make me cookies." 

Since I like him so much (really, I do), I decided to fulfill his request.

But I was kind of bored with the same kind of cookies that I normally make...

...even though they are DELICIOUS, like the recipe for chocolate chip cookies from Jake's grandma Bonnie that I posted about here. They are good... but I wanted to make something different. 

I found a recipe on Pinterest that looked good, so I decided to give it a shot. I think Jake is going to like them!! 

They look like a typical chocolate cookie...

in all of their crackly, sugary glory...

 

...until you bite into one and discover...

PEANUT BUTTER! 

Fortunately for Jake (and the guys he works with, because I'm sure some will get taken with him to work tomorrow), I don't really care for peanut butter cookies. But like most things I bake, I usually just like the baking part and not so much the eating part. I'm a salty kind of girl (chips and guac, anyone?!) more than a sugary one. I need to find people to give my goodies to. Any volunteers?! Anyway, here is the recipe. I tasted one... it's good, I guess, and coming from someone who doesn't really care for PB cookies, that's sayin' something, I think.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugars, butter and 1/4 cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg, beating to combine. Stir in the flour mixture and stir to combine, blending well. Set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, mix together powdered sugar and remaining 3/4 cup of peanut butter until smooth.

5. Pull off a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten with your hands. Take about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter mixture and place it in the center of the chocolate dough. Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter center, pressing to seal. Roll the cookie into a ball and roll the cookie in the sugar. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each cookie to about a 1/2 inch thickness.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes. Let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

green onions {don't throw them away!}

We use green onions a lot in our house, so we are forever buying them... but I recently saw this idea on Pinterest! I had no idea that you could just stick the green onions in a jar/glass of water and that they would continue to grow. It's kind of a "duh" / "why didn't I think of that?" thing.

I had cut these almost all the way down to where the green meets the white (they were in a shorter glass at that point)... just a few days ago. These things grow like weeds! Just snip 'em off whenever you need some green onion goodness. You can occasionally change the water and rinse off the roots, otherwise they might get a little slimy. 

It's so colorful and pretty... and it's a good way to save a few bucks, too!

{ embrace the camera : 11.10 }

Cardboard boxes are so much fun, aren't they? Ryan had fun being pushed and pulled around in a diaper box the other day... of course we had to take a few pictures, because that's what good first time parents do, right? Take pictures of their first child's every moment? ;] In all seriousness though, I hope we take as many pictures of our next littles as much as we do of Ryan.

 {cat getting ready to attack ryan}

 {cat escaping. and yes, my 9 month old wears size 2 diapers. he's kind of a peanut.}

 {papa and ryan}

{"sooooooooo big!"}

Link up with Emily over at The Anderson Crew for ETC! Their adoption of Elsa was made official yesterday... yahoo!!