Memorial Day Weekend

We had a crazy busy weekend..but it was so fun!  I have been a little stressed about this weekend because I knew how hard it might be to do all of the things we had to do with a 10-week-old in tote.  He's such a good baby but I know how exhausted he gets when we are busy going from place to place.  It turns out I had nothing to be worried about.  He was SO good all weekend!  He is getting to be so much more interactive and it's so fun to watch him learn about new things in his environment.  Although we did a lot of fun things this weekend, my most favorite times were laying in bed with Duane and Kason and just listening to Kason talk to us and flash us those huge, toothless smiles.  Those are the times I hope to remember in the years to come.

Kason had a couple of firsts this weekend that I wanted to share.  Saturday evening Kason got to go to his first wedding reception!  Some of our friends got married this weekend and we decided to take Kason along.  My sister kept him during the wedding (thanks Aunt Jill) and then we took him to the reception.  Evenings are usually a bit rough around here, but Kason did so well.  He was happy the majority of the reception.  He also looked pretty darn cute! :)


{Waiting to eat at the reception.  The food was wonderful..best food I've had at a wedding in a while! :)}



{My friend Megan with her baby, Graham.  Graham is 2 weeks younger than Kason but a LOT taller!  I think we have a short little peanut on our hands!}



{They will be great friends someday!}



{Our little party animal only fell asleep for about 20 minutes.  He was awake and happy the rest of the time!}



{Our best friends, Todd and Carrie, at the reception.}



{Carrie and I.  So thankful for this girl!}



{My friend Ted with Kason.}



{Trying to get Kason and Graham to look at each other..ha!}



{My sweet family.}



{With the beautiful bride!  I LOVED her dress!}



{Kason with his mama!}


On Memorial day Kason had another first..his first trip to the lake!  I blogged about how much I love the lake here.  It was so fun to take Kason to experience all of the things I love!  He got to see some friends that hadn't seen him in a while and he got to take his first boat ride!  I know we will be spending many more summer days at the lake, and I can't wait to take Kason along.


{SUCH a nice day!}


{Ready to go!  Does this kid look like a beach bum or what?!}


{First boat ride!}



{The Girls and Kason..we're missing Stacey!}






{Aunt Jill and Kase}



{Grandpa making Kason smile.}



{Such a sweet baby!}






{Kason and Aunt Stacey.}


We also went to a going away party for some good friends on Memorial Day.  They are moving to Maryland to plant a church and we couldn't be more excited for them!  It was sad to say goodbye, but we are so excited to see what God has in store for their family and Silver Springs!  Check out their story here.


{Group shot minus Aaron and Karrie's other two boys.}


{Karrie and I with our babies!}



{With all the babies..just one in a belly!}


Wow, that was a long post!  Thanks for sticking around until the end..assuming you made it to the end without getting bored! :)


I hope you had a wonderful, long weekend! :)

Ready to Read! :)

I love to read.  Unfortunately, college kind of turned me off to reading for a while.  I was constantly reading for classes and therefore had no desire to read outside of school.  I read occasionally on vacation, but other than that I was anti-reading...unless People Magazine counts! :)  However, since I've had Kason I've had lots of extra time to read while nursing him.  There is NOTHING on TV during the day, so I decided to check out a couple of books on the best seller list.  I purchase the books on my iPhone (iBooks) because it's easier to hold while nursing.  Although I love to have the actual book, I have been very pleased with iBooks.

I recently finished Water for Elephants and LOVED it!  It was such a neat look inside of circus life in the past along with a great love story.  I am anxious so go see the movie!  If you're looking for a good book..I would highly recommend it!

Now I am reading The Help.  It also is coming to theaters this summer..so I wanted to read it before I saw the movie.  I'm only a couple of chapters in, but I really think I'm going to like it.

After I finish The Help, I want to start Heaven is for Real.  I have heard SO many good things about this book.  I think I might have to buy it and take it on our beach vacation!



Other than those books I'm currently reading Goodnight Moon and The Going to Bed Book every night to my sweet baby boy.  Don't forget..I'm an elementary school teacher so Kason already has a LARGE library full of all of my favorite children's books!  I know the importance of reading to your baby from the get-go..so I'm taking full advantage! :)

What good books are you reading??

Farm Fun!

This week I had the privilege of taking my nephew, Korbin's, sixth month pictures.  I'm no professional, and don't claim to be, but I do love taking pictures of my family members (especially cute kids!).  I had been looking forward to this all week!  Not only would I get to take pictures of one cute kid, it was also Kason's first trip to the farm.  Duane's brother works on a farm and that's where my sister-in-law wanted Korbin's pictures taken.  You might remember I took Korbin's sister, Haylea's two year pictures at the same farm.  It was such a fun evening and we even got to go visit Duane's brother in the fields!  He was busy planting, but did have time to take Duane and Kason on a ride in the tractor.  So much fun!  I was in true mamarazzi form and took TONS of photos!  I won't bore you with them all but here are a few of my favorites!

{Some friends of ours gave us this carrier, and Duane loved it!  This was his first time to wear it..such a good daddy!}

{Checking out the cows!}

{Something was loud I guess!}

{Kason and I with the pigs!  I was not a fan of being this close to them!}

{Why is Haylea so excited?!....}

{Because she sees here daddy of course!}

{Excited to see Daniel!}

{Duane's brother and family.}

{My husband being goofy!}

{My cute little family of 3!}

{Getting ready to teak a ride in the tractor!}

{Love this photo!}

And of course..that whole reason for the trip to the farm was to take pictures of this cute little guy!  Here are a few of my favs!

Thanks Elaina for inviting us to the farm and letting me take pictures of your sweet boy! :)

Happy Friday everyone! 

Chicken Enchiladas {Cooking}

My cooking venture has recently come to a halt due to the fact that my dairy intake is very limited.  I've found that it's mainly cheese that upsets Kason's belly..so I've tried to stay away from that.  However, being a picky eater and having a picky husband means that there aren't many things I can cook that don't include cheese.  Duane really loves these chicken enchiladas that my friend Carrie always makes.  I decided to try them one night and you might recall it was a disaster!  I have made them two times since then and they have turned out really well!  I limit the amount of cheese that go on mine..although the last time the little bit of cheese still got to Kason's tummy.  Poor baby!  

Here's how to make these super easy super delicious enchiladas...

Step 1:

I placed about 7 small pieces of chicken into a pot of boiling water.  I threw in some chili powder, chili pepper, and garlic powder for a little extra flavor.  I let the chicken boil for about 30 minutes.  When it was done I let it cool and then it easily shredded into small pieces.

Step 2:

In a mixing bowl I mixed the following items:

I put in the full can of cream of chicken and also the full container of the sour cream.  I'm not sure how much of the chili powder I added, I just kind of kept adding and stirring until the sauce turned a little pink-ish.  I just sprinkled a little red pepper for some additional flavor.

Step 3:

After I had the chicken and sauce ready, I put the enchiladas together.  I used a medium size tortilla and spread a spoon full of the sauce mixture on the enchilada.  I then added some chicken and rolled it up.  I did this four times.  You can make as many or as few as you want.  Four enchiladas usually feeds Duane and I and leaves some leftovers as well.

Step 4:

I used the additional sauce mixture to cover the enchiladas.  After I spread that over the enchiladas I covered them with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Step 5:

I put them in the oven (preheated to 400 degrees) for 30 minutes.  After just 30 short minutes..they were finished!

Add some chips and salsa and rice and dinner is served...

Thanks Carrie for the great recipe!