New Mexican Restraunt

Kalyn had to go back up to UT for work and school today so Trey drove back with her and flew back on Saturday.
So they drove up and I stayed down. Well, Friday night has always been, and will always be, my parent's date night. They never miss it. (and I love that tradition) Well that night was date night and they wanted to include the family in part of it. We went to try out a ne mexican place. (ok not new to the world, it has apparently been there a while, but it was new to our knowledge.) It is in La Verne and is called El Merendero.

It was a cute little hole-in-the-wall place, which typically means GREAT food. haha We were excited to be there and try it, well everyone but Cameron and that definately shows in the picture haha.

As a side note: my Dad just (that day) got a new phone, the Droid 2x (or something like that). It is pretty dang cool! He was getting all sorts of cool apps on his phone with the little boys while we waited for our food.

The food was delicious! I had a tostada but had a bite of the bean burrito, which is apparently their specialty. Both were so yummy!

Everyone (even Cameron) liked the food. This will definately be a place to revisit.

Paige Eats Food

While we were down in CA Paige had her first eating experience. She ate the baby rice cereal. Ok, not so much ate as smeared all over everywhere, but it was a valient attempt =>

She didn't really know what to think of it at first. And she made some dang funny faces! =>

Paige has gotten in the habit of putting her hand in her mouth. ALL THE TIME. That was a constant battle when we were feeding her.

In the end she got more on her face and spitup rag than in her. I actually dont think she got any in her, her tounge just kept pushing it out! But it was still funny to see!

A couple days later we tried again. This time I am sure she got the equivalent to one spoonful swallowed! Horray!!

I made this one a bit less runny so I think that helped. But she still got it all over the place! =>

My little silly/messy/cute/and oh so adorable girl!

Cream Puffs!!

One of the craft blogs look at posted a recipie for cream puffs, and as soon as I saw them I just had to have some! So, I made them! I am so proud of myself! I am becoming a little chef! haha Ok, there is still a ong road to being a chef, but at least I'm starting it haha.
Look at those cute little dough balls!! I borrowed a melon scooper from my aunt Lindsey and it work like a charm!!

There was a slight, ok HUGE issue with the cream. It was dang thick! The recipie said to squirt the cream into the puffs with a cake bag and tip. Luckily I had some! (My in-laws gave me a sweet cake decorating set for my birthday! Thanks again Millers!! =>) (and yes, I did open the present before my birthday. I just couldnt help it! =>) But the cream was so think it broke the frosting bags, no matter what tip I used! It was just way thick! Jared had the idea to try one of his food syringes from his surgery days. It worked like a charm but it took forever to load! => You can see in the picture, the broken bag, blown out cream, and the process of loading the syringe.

And this is how they turned out! They actually look like legit cream puffs! I am so proud! haha. At first they tasted really egg-y, but after we chilled them it got better, and they even tasted better the next day. I have discovered I really like making cream puffs, maybe I will do it again =>

Nursing Preparations...

My aunt posted this on her blog a while ago. I read it and thought it was pretty funny, and now it has reached a whole other level of meaning. Breast feeding is no walk in the park or bed of roses. I should have listened to this list haha.

This was in BabyTalk magazine..."How to prepare for nursing:”

"Forget that old advice about "gently rubbing your nipples with a towel" If you really want to feel ready to breastfeed, here's what you do:

Day 1: Gently rub your nipples with sandpaper.

Day 2: At bedtime, set your alarm clock to go off every two hours. Each time it rings, spend 20 minutes sitting in a rocking chair with your nipples clamped in a pair of chip clips.

Day 3: Draw branching lines all over your chest with a blue-green marker, then stand in front of your bathroom mirror and sing "I feel pretty."

Day 4: Open your already-crowded freezer and make room for five dozen plastic milk bags.

Day 5: Fit the hose of a vacuum cleaner over one breast and set on "medium pile." Turn off vacuum when nipple is three inches longs. Switch breasts.

Day 6: Obtain "Do Not Cross" tape from your local police station, then wrap firmly around your chest. When your spouse asks about it say: "Get used to it."

Day 7: Tape a water balloon to each breast and squeeze into a maternity bra. Repeatedly hook and unhook the nursing flaps with one hand while using the other hand to balance a sack of squirming puppies.

Day 8: Dine in the fanciest, snootiest restaurant you can afford, making sure to arrive with a big wet spot directly over each nipple.

Day 9: Record your mother proclaiming, "Just give the baby some cereal like God intended, and she'll sleep right through the night," Play in an endless loop at 1am, 3am, and 5am.

Day 10: Slather your breasts with peanut butter, top with birdseed and stand very still in your backyard.

Day 11: Go someplace public - a museum, a courthouse, the steps of your office building - and stuff a lifelike baby doll under your shirt. Use the doll's arm to suddenly hike the shirt up past your collar bone. Lower shirt. Feign nonchalant smile.

Day 12: Suckle a wolverine.

Congratulations! You are now ready to nurse a baby. Maybe."

Jared's Birthday and Cake!

Tuesday was Jared's 24th birthday! Happy Birthday Jared!! He is not the biggest fan of celebrating his birthday so I am slowly increasing my celebrations (last year no present and all homemade decorations. This year some presents and cake. Next year, who knows => ) This year I made no such promise to not spend any money on his birthday, honestly I think Jared just forgot his birthday was coming up or he would have asked me to not spend money haha. So I decided I was going to make him a sweet birthday cake! I had this great vision in my mind of a two layered masterpiece.

I was really excited when I made the two cakes and they turned out right!! Trust me, that was an accomplishment in and of itself! Then it was an even bigger accomplishment when I got them out of the pan and staked on top of eachother! Wahoo I was on a roll! Then I trimmed the edges to make the cakes even, and thats when it all started crumbling, literally. I had bought two cans of frosting but with all the crumbling it was clear that it was not working. So Kalyn (she was over playing with me) went to WalMart and got three more cans of frosting, and good thing she did! It turns out if you glob the frosting on the side and then spread a thick mass of it, the cake doesnt crumble. So this cake is probably more frosting than actual cake, but hey, thats the good part anyways =>
The finished cake product! I did the ENTIRE cake by myself! Yay me! Kalyn was here to watch me and laugh at me, but she never touched the cake! I love watching those cake shows, the ones where they make the AMAZING cakes, and I think thats what inspired this. But let me tell you, it is so much harder than they make it look! I have much more awe and appretiation for their cake decorating talent now haha.
When Jared got home we had a mini party all ready for him! (me and Kalyn) We sang the most beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday and he blew out his candles in one try! => This is a momentous year for Jared because it is the last year only one box of candles will suffice for his birthday. In the stores the most they come in is boxes of 24. Next year, TWO boxes are going to be needed, what an oldie haha.
He is anxiously waiting to eat this cake... haha
And he doesn't trust me with a big knife haha.....
Yes the picture is blurry (blame the photographer) but this is an action shot of Jared eating the first bite of birthday cake! He is officially 24!!! (as a side note, yes I am still pregnant even tho you probably cant tell from the picture hahahaha! jk)
With all the people (ok 3 of us) we hardly made a dent in the cake! But it was yummy! And Jared enjoyed his little birthday party! He is beginning to see the light on birthday celebrations! haha As for next year, I am definately buying a cake! There is a reason people get paid to do this and I don't. And never again (ok I probably will cave eventually but not today) am I ever doing anything with sprinkles! They are a MESS!!
And it wouldn't be a true Jared birthday without his annual birthday picture. =>

Happy Birthday Handsome! I love you!!

Chocolate Easter Eggs

I might be a tad addicted to the DIY blogs out there. => And a couple weeks ago I came across an article on how to make a "grown-up" Easter treat ( here http://www.howdoesshe.com/easter-tradition), and it looked sooooo good, so I decided to make it. =>

The first step was to dip balloons in melted chocolate. Not that hard. => I then put it in the fridge to have the chocolate harden faster. The problem came when we (Jared and I) tried to take the balloons out. I guess we should have sprayed PAM on the balloons or something like that because there were definate pieces where the balloons would just not let go of the chocolate (but I couldn't really blame them, this chocolate was goooooood).
Out of the eight balloon eggs we did only 2 made it complete enough (with just minor holes) to be able to hold things in. The original recipie/blog post put chocolate mousse in the egg, but I wanted to put fresh fruit in it. So I bought some strawberries, but sadly they did not last long enough to make it into the chocolate eggs (I ate them => )
Jared came up witht he idea of filling them with bananas. It was yuummy, but something was missing. It lacked that "OMG!" part of it.
We will keep working on this because it is actually pretty fun, and one day we will have out little treat hit all the spots and be oh so delicious!