Memorial Day Weekend

First off I gotta say thank you to all the men and women that are serving and have served out country. Danny and I both have some heroic servicemen in our families.

So this weekend was just a good time, nothing uber special but just a fun family filled weekend. It star
ted out Friday when I met two of my friends, Candace and Becca at germ central!!!!!!!

It was totally worth it though. M had a great time with her friends. When we got there there was only one other mom and daughter so it was like we had the place to ourselves. Now, it has been years since I have been there.....I had no idea they have a little tot spot. M had NOTHING to do with moving rides.....does NOT like them, freaks out. But she LOVES the slide. Up and down, up and down and of course wondering around was good fun.

The ladies and their babies (L to R: Candace and Liam, Me and M and Becca and Graham and Pierce)

Cheesin as she goes down the slide

Yummmm, lunch

You wanna play?!?

Say cheese

Mom! Get off me, you are embarrassing me.

Oh and on our way out Chucky came out and she was not a fan. I tried to tell her that daddy used to Chucky but she was having none of it.

Saturday we spent the morning at the mall. I know, kinda boring but Danny and I both needed shorts, found nothing but had a good time. After nap we headed to my parents to have the first swim of the summer. We spent about 10 minutes in the water and the rest of the time picking out rocks.

Ready to swim

Swimmin with Uncle Tyler

On to bigger and better things. Rocks!

Mmmmm lemonade pie

Sunday we celebrated Memorial Day with the Struzick's by grilling hamburgers, going to the splash pad and laughing. 

Checkin out the splash pad with Pops

Getting a little braver

Munchin on some corn

Yeah....I like brownies

Sunday we headed back out to my parents to do some more eatin, swimmin and laughin.

I thought she looked so cute so I had to take a pic in her red, white and blue.

Loved bouncing in the water

I am pretty sure I love queso!

Anyone want to play washers with me? I am pretty good.

Saying nigh nigh to Great Grandma

It's Zoo Time

Today we spent the morning at the zoo and it was a ton-o-fun! Danny took the morning off so he could meet us. We got there at 9:30am and left at noon and she was wiped afterward. She was really reserved at first taking everything in but once she was able to get out of the stroller and explore she perked right up. The animals were not moving much so our stops were short. There is a children's zoo section that has a petting zoo, cows and chickens so that was exciting because those are all the animals that we talk about in books. Oh and she loved feeding the giraffes.

Checkin out the elephants.

Intensely watching the monkeys

Looking at the monkey hand prints

Feeding the giraffes

Peek-a-boo

Telling us all about the buffalo

Captain Molly

Pooped!

Another Pinner

Tonight....so good....dinner that is. I found this recipe on Pinterest and I highly recommend it. Of course next time I will have to grate the zucchini so Danny will eat it but I should have known that before I made it. The only things I changed helped make the recipe easier. I used a rotisserie chicken and one of those Uncle Ben's 90 second chicken brown rice pouches (so I didn't use the stock since the rice was already flavored). It was super good and super easy!

Chicken and Black Bean Casserole - pretty healthy :)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup brown rice (I used the whole pouch of chicken brown rice)
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth (like I said I didn't use this since my chicken was flavored)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
• 2 cooked skinless boneless chicken breast halves, chopped (I used all the white meat in a rotisserie chicken)
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional) (I didn't use this because I knew for sure Danny wouldn't touch it but it would be good!)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt to taste
• ground cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4oz) can diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Mix the rice and vegetable broth in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce hear to low, cover, and simmer 45 minutes, or until rice is tender.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large 9x13 casserole dish.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion until tender. Mix in the zucchini, chicken, and mushrooms. Season with cumin, salt and ground cayenne pepper. Cook and stir until zucchini is lightly browned and chicken is heated through.
4. In a large bowl, mix the cooked rice, onion, zucchini, chicken, mushrooms, beans, chiles, and 1/2 the cheese. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
5. Cover the casserole loosely with foil, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 10 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

I got it from www.sixsistersstuff.com   

16 Months

I know, a day late. I didn't even realize you turned 16 months yesterday. Papa had to text me to remind me.

Clothes:

• 18 and 18-24 month clothes 
• diaper: size 4
• shoe: 4.5 - 5

Sleeping: You still take your one good nap from 1-3pm. You started consistently waking up around 6:45am - 7am and we just decided that was too early so we started pushing your bedtime back to 7:45pm instead of 7:15/30pm (I know, 15 minutes of craziness). It worked and you are back to waking up around 7:30am. I have started propping books up in the slats of your crib so when you wake up you grab the books and entertain yourself for a good while while I finish getting ready. It's nice. Oh and in other news, I finally dropped your night time bottle. I knew it was just me holding on to the cuddle time and one night I just decided you needed to be done so we were done and it of course didn't even phase you. So now, before bed we read your favorite book and you always choose The Bible and we sing a song.

Eating: You drink 3 sippy cups of milk with your meals and eat 1-2 snacks a day (sometimes you don't eat a morning snack).  You have turned a corner on your veggies and meat this month. I don't know what happened but you eat most of whatever I give you at night. Half the month we struggled with getting you to eat and the later half you are eating everything. I am proud of you girl!

New Tricks: It is truly amazing how God designed children and how much they learn in a day. He amazes me everyday through you. You have a million "tricks". Now when you point to body parts you say what they are (nose, ears, eyes, teeth, even beard since daddy has one). You are a dancing queen and like to twirl on command. You have manners and say thank you when people hand you things but we are still working on please, you are still pretty demanding when it comes to getting things. You know what a dog says, duck says, fish does, chicken says, cow says and lizard does. Just today you were pointing  to a blue spot on one of your animals and you said blu! WHAT?! 

Words: Oh my goodness little one. Your words this month have exploded, big time! You still say these words: uh-oh, mamma, dada, do (dog), ba (ball), owl, harli (our dog), mommy, daddy, papa (my dad), nenna (Aunt Jenna, my sister), pop (Danny's dad), Bobbie (Danny's brother), tat you (thank you), hi, nigh nigh, bye bye, baby, shus (shoes), sx (socks). Your new words this month are: cak (quack), peepee (you say this after you have gone numero 2....does this mean potty training is around the corner....oh my I haven't even begun to think about that), wawa (water), teefh (teeth), no (nose), no, ear, eyes, hair, boodi (birdie), pink, blue, mil (milk), reece (Jenna's fiance), Bible, book, lobi (lovie), te be (teddy bear), car, up, bu (blue), pin (pink). I am sure I am missing some but you get the jist. You are basically a parrot for one syllable words.

Teeth: I think you still have 10 but it could be more I am just a little scared to stick my fingers in there.

Likes: You still love all the same things liking reading books, swinging, dancing, being outside, riding your car, horsey, the dogs and being outside. Your favorite foods are grilled cheese, strawberries, cuties, lasagna, and you LOVE jellybeans.

Dislikes: You have gotten a lot better in the car this month - thank goodness. You don't like to be told no and man you have mastered the fit throwing. Wow girl, eventually I will catch one on video and show it to you when you are older and perhaps your wedding. :) 

Alright goose, this month has been a lot of fun because we can really communicate now. It isn't just me talking to you, you talk back to me. So crazy! So, regarding sickness. We were good for about a month after you got your tubes but ever since that was up you have gone back to your old ways and are always sick. Yuck. You got a bad cold, runny nose and then in the middle of it got a fever and would cough so hard you would throw up. Not fun. You are still sick but we are hoping you are on the tail end. Fingers crossed. I am gonna need you to be healthy MG - seriously. love you goose.

Lately

Man oh man. Life has been busy and to be honest I have been a little lazy with blogging. Here are some pics to show you what we have been up to the past weekish.

You know, just playing with the camera and cheesin with daddy

Cheesin is my new thing

Play date with Miss Tatum

Insisted on napping with baby then playing with lovie, teddy bear,
bunny and baby the rest of the  day.

Playing with Aunt Nenna at her new house!

Doing what we do best when it is hot outside....playing with the hose.

Her new favorite thing, wearing mommy's shoes!

Hey daddy, you don't fit on there!

My friend Candace at her little boy's 2nd bday party
(don't mind Molly in the back). 

The birthday boy and Molly.
Getting them both to look at the camera was of course, impossible so we settle. 

ChooChoo, meet the new train conductor.