Sophie Shares

We try our best to teach our girls to share with each other. They still aren't crazy about sharing their toys, but Sophie is a super star sharer with her BFF, Teddy.

xoxo

Blog Format Question

Ok, I'm seriously so stupid when it comes to formatting my blog. I don't want anything fancy, and I like the background I have now, but I know at one point that I was able to fiddle around with the font color/type/size of my blog title. I have no idea how to do that anymore. If anyone out there knows how to help me, please leave a comment telling me how to do so. Thanks in advance. :)

Easy, Quick Recipes

If you're like me, you are sick of cooking the same things over and over. I've made all of the easy, good ones out of my BHG cookbook and all of my "collected" yummy ones. So now, thanks to pinterest (and if I wasn't watching my calories, this amazing website) I've got a few yummy ones. Since easy, yummy, quick recipes are always a big hit with anyone, I thought I'd share 3 I plan on making this week.

Tilapia with Almond Butter
Ok, this one is an oldie but a goodie out of the ol' BHG cookbook. It takes 20 min. or less to make and is one of Kyle's faves (ie. pickiest eater alive).

2-4 Tilapia filets
1/4 C. sliced almonds (I like to get the roasted sliced ones)
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 T. flour
salt and pepper

Sprinkle tilapia with salt, pepper, and flour on each side. Put in skillet over hot oil (cook on med/high heat). Cook the first side for 5-6 min, flip and cook an additional 3-4 min. Take out filets and melt butter in skillet. Once the butter is almost melted, add almonds and cook for 30-60 seconds. Pour over the top of filets.
**To go a little lower cal, sometimes I only put 1 T. of butter in with the almonds

It's delicious. I usually serve with sauteed green beans or asparagus.

Crockpot Lemon Chicken

Do you all need to see pictures of food before you cook it like I do? 

4 Chicken breasts or tenders

3-4 T. butter

1 package italian seasonings dressing mix

Juice of 2 lemons

Put butter in bottom of crockpot. Cook on high 4-5 hours, or low for 6-8 hours. When done, shred chicken and top with the juice mixture. 

I'll be making this tomorrow. I heart 4 ingredient crockpot recipes.

Ground Beef Mac and Cheese Casserole

Ok, I don't know why I'm making this. I'm trying to be healthy. I was under pressure prior to leaving for the grocery store and succumbed to this at the last minute. It had me at "Mac and Cheese."

1 boxed macaroni and cheese, reserve cheese packet
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup of chopped green or red bell pepper,
or use a combination of both
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1/2 tablespoon of chili powder, or to taste
   (can omit if using Rotel)
1 teaspoon of seasoning salt (like Lawry's)
1 (14.5 ounce) can regular diced tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Shredded pepper jack, cheddar cheese or your favorite cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil for the macaroni noodles, adding a large pinch of kosher salt. Boil according to package directions, drain and set aside. Reserve the powdered cheese sauce package - you will be stirring that in later.

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion, green and red pepper and sauté until tender. Toss in garlic and sauté just a bit longer, but to avoid bitterness, do not scorch. Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as you go. Drain off any fat from meat mixture if necessary and then return it to the pan. Stir in chili powder and seasoned salt.

Add the cheese packet and diced tomatoes to the meat mixture, stir until mixed thoroughly, taste and adjust seasonings as needed; add the pasta. Spray a 9 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour meat and pasta mixture in. Sprinkle the top lightly with just enough cheese to add a bit of flavor if desired, and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Variation:  Substitute one (10 ounce) can of Rotel tomatoes, undrained plus 1 small can (8 ounce) tomato sauce for the can of diced tomatoes.

Happy cooking! 

Infertility Encouragement

About a year ago I came across this darling blog while searching for some home decorating ideas. Since then, I have followed it pretty regularly. Recently she decided to share her and her husband's journey to become pregnant. I had no idea that she, too, had a bit of a struggle with infertility. She now has a darling little boy (that she makes all sorts of adorable stuff for)! Since I love infertility journeys with happy endings, I would love to share with you (with her permission) her journey. I think she is such an inspiring example of how to weather the ups and downs of fertility treatments. I also particularly admire her faith-filled approach to it. I related to this on so many levels, and I hope it will be continued encouragement to any women struggling with this. She did a 3 part series discussing their journey (linked below).

Our Journey to Parenthood: Part one
Our Journey to Parenthood: Part two
Our Journey to Parenthood: Part three

Not-so-Independence Day

Well, I hope all of you had a wonderfully happy 4th! In spite of having to stick to our feeding every 3 hours/multiple naps a day schedule (see blog post title), we had a pretty great long weekend. We went swimming 2 days in a row (thank goodness my girls love the water), had a few cookouts, slept in, went on a few family outings, and started (but were unable to finish) some 4th of July festivities this evening (I'm not naming any names, but Campbell Jane, you know who you are...) Aaah parenthood. Our normal 4th of July tradition of staying up late, having a grand time with friends, and shooting off fireworks at 10:00 at night did not happen this year. And now I sit here blogging at 9:30, while listening to all the fireworks go off from a distance. We are optimistically hoping next year our girls will realize how fun it is to eat hot dogs and ice cream and stay up past their bedtime to celebrate our nation's independence. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, here are a few pics of our weekend. Oh, and in case anyone cares, I did make the raspberry butter, pioneer woman french toast (see below). After having dreams about it the other night, I decided to grab the ingredients yesterday at the store. Boy, was I not sorry. Kyle said it was better than pancakes (this is a very bold statement on his part). I highly suggest this one.

They look SO big here! Crazy to think they used to sleep in a pack and play together, and now they can't even fit in one crib together. :(

baby in a swimsuit+sun hat+sunglasses=mom taking 1,000 pictures 

make that 2,000 pictures since there are two of them :)

Bubba and Sophie splashing around

Daddy and CJ. Is it just me, or is she posing?

Such an ornery little girl

Wouldn't be a day at the pool without snacks

Sophie=the snack queen

Fun pool day at the Maxwells!

Sophie looking up, Campbell looking down

Campbell looking up, Sophie looking down 

I can't see a thing, but I look pretty cute.

Patriotic Princesses

Here's hoping next year our girls increased "independence" makes for a more exciting holiday! :)

xoxo

Fourth of July Breakfast

I'm wishing I had the energy to run to Wal-Mart right now and buy the ingredients to make this mouth watering little dish of heaven. I'm hoping someone will read this who does have the energy, make it, and bring it to me tomorrow...in bed.

Pioneer Woman french toast with berry butter

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th! Pics of my little firecrackers to come...

Eight Months

Well my little love muffins are officially 8 months old today. Yes, that means only 4 more months until they are ONE! As always, I'm astonished, sad, excited, and insanely proud of these amazing little girls. They are at such a fun age. It seems like they are doing/discovering something new each day. They are for sure starting to notice each other more. The other day while I was trying to quickly get ready, I had put both of them in their jumpers, and 5 minutes later I heard both of them laughing at each other! I of course ran in the room to witness it, and sure enough, for no reason, they were just cackling at each other. Melted my heart. They continue to interact on a daily basis. Mostly in the form of our little pistol, Sophie, trying to steal a toy or grab at Campbell. She takes it like the little laid back smiley girl she is and ignores it most of the time, but I can tell we are going to have to start working with Sophie on being nice to her sister. This morning, Kyle asked if it was too early to start "time out" with her! Their personalities couldn't be more different, and it's so fun to watch them develop. Here's a few highlights:

Skills we have acquired:

-Sitting up on our own

-Babbling

-Able to hold themselves up on furniture for a few seconds

-Eating baby food/puffs

Still working on...:

-Hair

-Our first tooth

-Crawling

-Drinking out of a sippy cup

Sophie Kay:

As stated earlier, this girl loves anything and everything...that her sister is playing with. She also would eat just about anything put in front of her, and gets very upset if we don't feed her fast enough (screams and makes this motion with her hand that signals us to hurry up). I can tell she is going to have a temper and be the boss around here someday. I also currently think she is going to be the one that gets the two of them in trouble ("Come on, Campbell, Mom will never find out") She also looooves to talk to us. Her favorite musical artist is "Gaga" We know this because she tells us aaaallll day long. We think, a few times, the "G" has turned into a "D" making what we believe her first word to be: "Dada" (or at least Kyle thinks so). Still wondering when she will make it more official. She loves doing anything with her hands. Including mimic-ing me when I sing "Skin-a-marink-a-dinky-dink", waving, and attempting to clap her hands (which is hysterical). I'm thinking it may be time to start the baby sign language with her since she loves using those hands so much. She also can impressively clap her feet together really well! She still has the sweetest smile, and tons of little rolls that I could gobble up. She is also finally getting some hair! So far it appears to be strawberry blonde/red and potentially curly. We agree that her fiery redish hair matches her personality. Can't wait until this girl starts talking more. I think she's gonna have a lot to say!

Campbell Jane:

Aaah, my happy little CJ. Her smile continues to light up a room. While not as vocal as her sister, she still loves to be talked to and thinks anything and everything you say is hilarious. She loves to listen to my off-key voice sing songs and read books. She is also very accepting of her selfish sister stealing whatever she is playing with, and usually, shockingly, finds it funny when she takes something from her. She is super ticklish on just about any part of her body, especially her ribs and feet. She, too, is starting to get a little bit of hair. It's still very uneven and skullet-like. And she has a little bit on the crown of her head that is very tweety-birdish (don't I make that sound attractive?) I think she is going to have my texture/color of hair, which is very fine and light brown. Recently, more and more people are starting to say how much she looks like Kyle, and I'd have to agree. Her eye shape/color are 100% his. I still think she has my nose, but we aren't sure where that giant smile comes from! It is definitely uniquely hers, and it brightens my day every day. 

Here are a few more pics of my growing beauties:

Playing with Papa's cowboy hat

Tough cowgirl, Sophie

Memorial Day weekend

We would dominate a swimsuit contest.

Backyard inflatable pool time

Happy CJ

Yummy carrots

They look so big in their highchairs!

Playtime

We love summer!

Playdate with the Coy triplets. Oh what fun!

Mema

My two favorite Daddies on Father's Day at Mema's

Family pool pic

Just relaxing at Mema's after playing in the pool

Love you girls more than anything!

xoxo