a recipe and a mohawk

We're back from vacation and trying to get back into the swing of things!  I want to blog about our fabulous time in San Diego, but need to finish editing my photos first.  Kason has adjusted back to Indiana time and has been catching up on all of the sleep he missed last week.  Those 3-4 hour naps are a nice break for this mama!

One of my goals once we returned was to get back to cooking.  Remember..I used to cook and have aspirations of becoming a gourmet chef.  Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration but I did want to cook more.  I did cook a lot after Kason was born but then I went back to work.  I rarely cooked anything that deserved to be blogged.  Now that I'm staying home, I'm trying to get better at planning new meals.  I'm getting together with friends next week to make a meal planning board and I'm really excited about that.  I'll be sure to share! :)

I did try a new crock pot recipe last night and it was so good.  I thought I'd share it with you!  I made this:

Slow cooker salso chicken.  It is oh so good and oh so easy!  All you need are the following ingredients:

 

You can make them into tacos but I just put the chicken on chips.  It took about 4 hours to cook and made my house smell so good!  To find the specific directions, go here!

On another note, after dinner last night Kason was a mess.  I started wiping him off and realized he had animal cracker icing all in his hair. I started to wipe it out and put his sweet blond hair into a mohawk.  I used to do it all the time when he was littler, but I haven't done it in a while.  I actually gelled it this time and can I just say...he looked so cute!  Obviously this isn't a new do by any means but I still had to share some pics!  Please ignore the giant scab on his nose.  He fell down the concrete steps on our back porch and I didn't feel the need to photoshop it out! :)

Happy Wednesday! :)

Vacation: old vs. new

Everyone with kids knows it happens.  When you first hold that sweet baby in your arms you suddenly have a "new" life.  Your old life and old selfish ways fly out the window.  You suddenly have a new task at hand and that task trumps all of the other tasks in your life.  That task is being a mom (or dad) to this tiny being that you grew inside of you for 9 months.  To care and love him with all of your soul.  Your old life is transformed into a newer, better, and sometimes harder life.  It's different, but it is oh so much sweeter.    

Vacation is the same way.  Quite plane rides are a thing of the past replaced with trying to hold down a busy 15 month old for 4 hours.  Gone are the days where I could go to the beach and soak up the sun for hours on end.  I could lay there, ipod in hand, and take long naps without a care in the world.  After long hours in the sun I'd head to dinner with Duane where we could sit and talk for hours.  We'd walk on the beach without even thinking about anyone else.  Those "old" vacations were fabulous.  They were much needed and I wouldn't trade those memories for the world. 

 But these "new" vacations, though much less relaxing, are so much better.   Sure, they are much harder.  Plane rides are almost impossible with the age Kason is at.  I was a ball of stress the whole way even though he didn't even do that poorly.  Our days are full of chasing a busy 1 year old and scooping him up because he touches something he's not supposed to.  We realize that a very tired, off schedule Kason can equal lots of melt downs and tantrums.  There's no more laying on the beach because it's not very safe to let your 15 month old run wild around La Jolla.  Meal times are a race to see who can finish before Kason needs to get down and move onto the next thing.  And you know what, that's ok.  It's better than ok.

It's ok because nothing can trump seeing that look of wonder in your child's eye when he stares out at the huge blue ocean. 

 There's nothing that is better than watching him happily pick up handfuls of sand and throw them all over the beach.

  It's such a sweet sight to see him play in a huge hole that grandpa dug on the beach.  

I can't help but smile as he happily walks down the street in Coronado holding on to his ball like there's no place in the world he'd rather be.

I can see the excitement in his eyes as he watches dolphins swim through the water at sea world.

And when he watches Shamu jump out of the water, his hands clap because he's never seen anything like that before.

So we endure the hard parts of vacation.  We do it because there is so much to see in the world and so much we want to show our boy.  We want to take him to the beach, mountains, and dessert and teach him that we have a very big God that created all we see.  We want him to have the same great experiences we had as kids.  We remember our "old" vacations and tuck those memories in our back pockets.

We do it because there is nothing better than watching your child discover a new thing.  Kason reminds us to slow down, and find the joy in everything, even the moving sidewalk at the airport.  I love these "new" vacations.  I am so thankful for vacations with my family and especially my sweet boy.  Here's to many, many more.

Remember

I want to remember all of the little details about your sweet 15 month old life.  

I want to remember how much you love rocks and carry one with you at all times.

I want to remember all of the blurry, out of focus photos I have because you move non stop.

I want to remember that 15 months is when I noticed you wanting more independence and how sad this makes me. 

I want to remember your curiosity and the way you look at the world with an open mind.

I want to remember the way your blond curls glow at sunset.

I want to remember the way you insist on carrying around two sippy cups.  You won't have it any other way.

I want to remember the way you always swing your right arm when you walk.

I want to remember you're smile that always melts my heart.

I want to remember each moment and kiss you one too many times.

I want to remember all of these things because you are growing up too fast.  I want to freeze time.  I want to write down all of the cute things that you do.  I want to slow down, and enjoy each moment, even the hard ones.  I want to remember what a blessing you are to me and that you are a gift from God. This time is sacred, you are only young once.  Even though time is moving quickly, I am so thankful for all of the memories we are creating each day.

travel advice

This is a post in which I beg ask for your travel advice.  In just 3 weeks, I will board a plane with my baby boy, husband, sister, and parents.  We will head to sunny California for a week long vacation.  I'm so excited to go visit friends in California and spend some time introducing Kason and Duane to a state that I love.  At the same time, I am totally and completely freaking out!  You see, going on vacation with a baby is much different than going on vacation with a group of adults.  We took Kason to the beach when he was 3 months old, and it was so hard.  I am convinced now that he is a little older, and not eating every 2 hours, it will be a little easier.  That's my hope at least!

My biggest fear is definately the plane ride.  Flying is not one of my favorite things anyway.  I get anxious and nervous from the time the plane takes off until it lands safely on the ground.  Now that I'm adding a baby into that anxiety..I may need an anti anxiety medication.  I can see it now, that plan takes off, Kason wants to get down and walk around the plane and when I have to hold him on my lap he will SCREAM.  And everyone on the plane will give me that look.  I know that look well.  The why can't you control your baby look.  I'm sure I gave that look a few times before I became a mama.  I did and thought a lot of things before I was a mom.  I am all the wiser now.  Anyways, I'm a little nervous about the plane ride.  That's where I need your help!  If you have flown with a small child what are your tips?  What should I bring in my carry-on?  What should I do to comfort him during take off and landing?  Anything that will help would be greatly appreciated!  Just leave it in a comment below.  I will be forever grateful! :)

And here's a picture of my sweet soon-to-be traveler!

Take me out to the ball game!

Well, summer has officially begun!  And what screams summer more than a Friday night baseball game?  Not much.  So last night we packed our blankets and snacks and headed to the Indian's game with some good friends.  Oh, and we packed jackets.  Who would have thought that it would have only been 60 degrees on June 1st?!  Luckily, the sun came out right around the start of the game so we had an hour or warmth.  Once the sun went down it was chilllly!  The boys didn't seem to mind.  They spent the entire game climbing, rolling, and crawling up and down the hill in the outfield.  They had a blast and two of the boys even made it until the fireworks.  It was such a fun night and once again I am reminded of how blessed we are with great friends.  These are friends are ones that I can count on no matter what.  I'm excited for all of our summer adventures!