Olivia's baptism

This past weekend, we had Olivia baptized at Theo's church. Our dear friends, Amy and Jeff, are Olivia's godparents and we are blessed to have them as a part of our lives.


The baptismal gown was the same one that Carter wore and it was Theo's when he was a baby. Someone in Theo's family sewed this but he can't remember who it was :)

Our little (and getting bigger by the day) family!


The baptism went really well except for one part. As Theo was holding Olivia and the priest was pouring the water over her head, Olivia moved her head and so she got a face full of water (which partly explains some of my expressions in these pictures!) She was looking like "Hey, what was that about?" She cried for a few seconds and then was fine.


Proud parents


Our little angel

Little Miss Candy Corn

I am so glad it's fall! Olivia made her debut in her candy corn outfit this weekend. Unfortunately, she didn't get to leave the house in it because just as we were getting ready to go to Target and Whole Foods, she decided she needed a nap. So Carter and I went instead and Olivia stayed home looking all cute in her crib while sleeping :)


My mom embroidered the front of the jumper and when she came to visit, we sewed it all together and I made the little bloomers. It is one of THE cutest things I've ever seen! Olivia looks precious in it too I might add.

I made the same jumper in another Halloween fabric so you'll see pictures of that one too as it gets closer to Halloween. Can't wait!!

I can't help but think there should be a beauty pageant for fall and Olivia would be crowned "Lil' Miss Candy Corn!"

Legs and thighs

These are the cutest legs and thighs I've ever seen. They make me want to eat 'em up!


And isn't this shirt cute? It has denim shorts with a matching belt that go with it. Grandma and Pop pops sent Olivia home with all kinds of cute clothes. Theo says they're from New York and Company! Ha!!

I spy with my little eye...

Another wonderful birthday present, courtesy of....you guessed it: Omaw!

For as long as I can remember, my mom has always been the best gift giver I know.

She always put so much thought into the gifts she gives, especially for the kids.


So here is Carter's eye spy quilt. With some help of Aunt Vickie and Grandmother, mom picked out all the fabric and made this quilt. She also took pictures of the fabric squares and made the book courtesy of snapfish (I think!).




Carter's favorite part of the book in the monkey doing yoga. He always has to demonstrate his "down dog" yoga pose! Like momma, like son. :)



How cool is that? Even the quilt has his name spelled out in blocks. Carter could read that book ten times a day. He loves playing eye spy!

The birthday present that is changing our lives

Theo and I have struggled off and on over the past year with finding discipline techniques that work with Carter. We know he responds best to postivie reinforcement and loves to be the "big helper".

I had been looking for a while for a chore chart but couldn't find the one I had in my mind. And then I stumbled upon this:


I was talking to my mom one night and told her about it and she said "Consider it done". I was thrilled that Carter got it for his birthday. We started using it a couple of days after his party and it has been a wonderful gift!

Carter loves picking out his rewards and loves putting his stars on the chart when he does the right thing. Now the first week, he switched out all of his responsibilities and put pictures of the rewards on there! It was funny! But since then, he's been good about not changing anything around.

Also, every week we make the responsibilities different.

Some weeks he has to make his bed. Other times he has to "set" the table which really means he has to put all of his dishes in the sink. He is a lot more motivated to do the right thing knowing there is a reward for him at the end of the week.



His behavior for the most part is really improving. He hardly gets time-outs anymore and has only had one spanking in the past couple of months and that was for excessive (and I mean excessive!) backtalking! Other than that, he is minding his Ps and Qs :)

If you want one for your child, you can check it out here

Fabulous Food Friday

Last night, I made shrimp po boys, seafood balls, and homemade remoulade sauce (all for the first time!) It was fun but a lot of work. I thought everything turned out well with a few adjustments. Olivia tore UP the seafood balls too! But again, what won't that girl eat these days?

Recipes:

Shrimp po boy:

Fried shrimp- I made the batter with flour, Old bay seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I dredged the shrimp first in a beaten egg with a splash of Louisiana hot sauce added, then in the batter, then fried them in canola oil for just a couple of minutes. Shrimp cook really fast so don't overcook them

Hoagie rolls
Lettuce
Remoulade sauce

Seafood balls:

1/2 cup prepared Tartar sauce
1 tablespoon Cajun spice mix
2 eggs, beaten, separate
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 cup cooked white rice, leftover is fine
1 (7-ounce) can whole corn kernels, drained
1 (6-ounce) can salmon fish
1 (6-ounce) can crabmeat
1/2 lb cooked, cleaned, and peeled shrimp
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peanut oil for frying

Directions
Pulse the shrimp in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer the shrimp into a large mixing bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients except 1 of the beaten eggs and breadcrumbs and fold together gently but thoroughly. Roll the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and dip into the beaten egg and then dredge in the breadcrumbs. Deep fry in 350 degree F oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon wedges and more tartar or remoulade sauce for dipping.

*My modifications: I did not have parsley so I left it out. I think this made them harder to form into a ball so I added some breadcrumbs just to help bind them. Also, the mixture was soooo moist that I did not dip them in the egg mixture but just put them in the breadcrumbs. Make sure you drain all the seafood and corn really well. I would probably strain this for a while. Also, towards the last few balls, they were falling apart in the oil so I baked the rest. The breadcrumbs did not turn out golden brown in the oven but tasted good nonetheless!

Recipe of Paula Deen y'all!

And finally the remoulade sauce:

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons Creole mustard (I used dijon because I couldn't find creole mustard)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 medium scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (left this out)
2 tablespoons chopped green olives (left this out)
2 tablespoons minced celery (left this out since I hate celery!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (used cayenne instead)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
1.Mix together mayonnaise, chili sauce, mustard, olive oil, hot sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in scallions, parsley, olives, celery, capers, and garlic. Season with chili powder, and salt and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate.

*Again, my opinion is that this was WAAAAAAY to mayonaissey tasting for me! So I ended up adding more chili sauce to balance out the taste. Next time, I would probably only use 2/3 cup mayo and leave the rest of the ingredients the same. Also, let it sit overnight for best flavor!

Hope you try these recipes and enjoy them. I needed a "home" cooking fix so Cajun food it was!

Fall

There are so many reasons I love fall. And today, fall has officially begun! I have really enjoyed the summer here and am not quite ready for it to end. But I do love fall! I'm so glad God made seasons. Just when you're ready for something new, the seasons change (at least in Colorado anyway!)

So, my top 10 things I love about fall (not in any particular order):

1- Football! This year I am truly hardcore. I have watched most of every LSU and Saints game. I'm missing "home" so that makes me feel more Southern!

2- seeing the leaves change color. I remember when I was in nurse practitioner school, one of the places I had to go was out in Minden. It was shortly after I had Carter so it must have been October. And the drive out there was like nothing I had ever seen before. I wish I had my camera so I could have captured the gorgeous foliage

3- Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes- need I say more?

4- lighting the fireplace. We won't do that much here unfortunately because it sends our gas bill through the roof!!

5- school has started and now that I have a preschooler, it's a fun time!

6- sitting on the couch under a cozy blanket sipping hot chocolate


7- our favorite tv shows start up again

8- decorating the house for fall. I've not been a big Halloween decorator in the past but as Carter gets older, I do like buying Halloween decorations

9- going to the pumpkin patch with the kids


10- knowing Christmas is just right around the corner

Happy Fall everyone!!

Reunited and it feels so good!

I can't get that song out of my head today. I am happy to report Theo and Olivia landed safely in Colorado this afternoon. I will admit, her reaction to seeing me was less than enthusiastic but she was thrilled to see "bubba"! Since we've been home, she's back to her normal self. And I officially put my "toy referee" hat back on!



I am happy that the four (well, technically, it's five now!) of us are under one roof again. Theo and Olivia had fun in New York but it definitely was not a relaxing trip for dad :) I am hoping she will fall back into her routine which got seriously out of whack this week. We'll see how she does tonight.

I am delighted to have my favorite girl and my favorite man home again!

On my mind

Olivia has been the main attraction in my thoughts these days. But other than that, I just had some random things on my mind that I felt like writing about. None of it will probably make sense to you all but oh well!

I did want to show you what Carter has been up to. What do you think he's doing here?







This past Monday, I watched the movie The Proposal. It came highly recommended by Meredith. I had it tivoed for a while and since Theo can't stand Sandra Bullock, I figured this week would be a good time to watch it. And yes, who doesn't like Sandra Bullock? But I digress. If any of you have seen it, then you'll know which scene in the movie I think these pictures reminded me of. If you're not sure, it's the scene with Sandra and Betty White out in the woods. Now are ya with me?

We've had a busy and fun week. Well, it wasn't all good. Monday and Tuesday I had a stomach virus so I basically laid on the couch for two days. I think I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Ugh! But once I rejoined the world of the living, we had a lot of fun. We went to Focus on the Family, swimming at the Y, the park a few times, McDonald's, shopping, hanging out with our neighbors, church, and the zoo. Whew, I'm beat!

And speaking of McDonald's, one random thing I wanted to blog about.....you all know I am very PRO breastfeeding. I had/have no issue with nursing in public. But me personally, I was always covered up (in my stylish nursing cover I might add!). Well, there was this mom's group meeting at McDonald's in the playplace. And I truly don't mean to be ugly or judgmental but almost all of them were very obese. I'm not talking a little chubby. I'm talking seriously obese. And one of them, who unfortunately was in my direct line of sight, was probably about 250 pounds. She had a toddler and in the course of about 15 minutes, let him crawl up in her lap, that kid yanked his mom's gigantic boob out of her shirt, and went to town. Nipple exposed and everything! I really lost my appetite. This older pentecostal couple was sitting behind me and I heard the man say "OH MY GOSH! She just whipped that thing out!" to which his wife responded "That is awful!" And yes, I tried to take a picture of her so I could show Theo! I guess I'm as awful as she was :) There are just some things you don't want to see while you are trying to enjoy some delicious McDonald's french fries. Now, I feel better for getting that off my chest!

We finally went grocery shopping yesterday. We were totally out of food. I had to resort to eating Nestle's chocolate chips out of the bag for a snack. Yes, I really did that. Now our pantry is furnished again just in time for daddy to come back home. I really dread going grocery shopping. Does anyone else feel that way?

I am hardcore LSU football this year. I even watched the second half of the game last night after Carter went to sleep. And Theo wasn't even here! How many wives watch football on a Saturday night while their husbands are out of town? Speaking of tv, I'm so excited most of my favorite shows are starting soon! On the line-up for this year are: House, Criminal Minds, Law and Order: SVU. I haven't watched Grey's Anatomy in three years but did watch part of the season finale last year so I might have to watch the first episode just to see what happens. What are you watching this year?

Carter is now in a big boy booster seat. Disadvantage #1: He can't buckle himself in anymore. Disadvantage #2: He has no problem UNbuckling himself. He often tells me that he's about to unbuckle his seatbelt as we're driving down the street. Today he told me that and I told him if we got in an accident, he'd be very hurt and would have to stay at the hospital for a really long time. His response was "Momma, will my eyelashes fall out?" Huh? I'm telling you that you would be seriously injured and you are concerned only about your eyelashes? The mind of a four year old...

I had some other random things I felt like sharing, but preggo brain has kicked in and now I can't remember them! Hope you all had a good weekend. Tomorrow, I get to see my baby girl and my sweet husband!

Broken hearted

I am really missing this girl lately...


but glad she and daddy are having a good time in NY. I'm couting down the days until I see my precious girl again. As Carter would say, three more sleeps!

Birthday photos cont'd: more cupcakes

The wind picked up right as we were having Carter blow out his candles. So Theo stepped inside with him and that worked!


Trying so hard for a family photo where all four of us are looking! Almost impossible :)


Carter loved the frosting so much he was licking it off his knee!




Carter, as sweet as his cupcakes!

Our little ladybug

Omaw got Olivia's birthday outfit for her and embroidered her name on it! It couldn't have been more perfect for Livie's first birthday party :)

Green with envy

*alternately titled "Evolution of a Cupcake"*

At last....my love has come along (CHOCOLATE, Olivia's first taste!)




Enough family photos....just give it to me already!


Oops! Dropped some...can't waste a drop!


(In her cookie monster voice:) "Ahhhh, yummy cupcake!"



"How do I look?"