24 Weeks

(she was in a serious mood during our photo shoot!)

E had a big week!  It always seems like she's growing up fast, but this week she really seemed like a big girl.

The biggest news is that she got her first tooth this week (bottom right)!  Tuesday morning, I suspected she might be teething, so I felt around in her mouth and felt a little bump.  By Thursday it had broken through her gums.  It looks as though the one next to it will follow soon.

I wish I could show you a picture, but since I can barely get a peek at it myself, photographs are out of the question.

E is also getting better at sitting up.  She still needs help most of the time, but she can sit unassisted for short periods.  I keep her on the bed most of the time so that if she tips over, it will be a soft landing!

Since E was being such a big girl, I decided to put her in the shopping cart without her infant seat.  I was a little nervous but she did great two days in a row!  I think she enjoyed being able to see everything.

A few more cute pictures:

Hope you had a great week!  We have tried a couple of new foods, so stay tuned for a post about those.

Recipe ~ Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Quesadillas

I found this recipe on Pinterest (my newest addiction).  It's originally from this blog, and it's yummy!  I paired it with this Spanish Rice and Bush's Grillin' Beans in Black Bean Fiesta.

SIDE NOTE: I love Grillin' Beans in other flavors, but I wasn't a fan of the black beans.  The Spanish Rice was good though - I just added a little cumin.

Cheesy Chicken, Bacon & Avocado Quesadillas

4 medium-sized flour tortilla shells
1 lb chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 cup scallions, diced  (I omitted)
8 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled (I used 4 large/thick slices)
1 avocado, diced
mild cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tbsp butter

1.  Arrange bacon on a cooling rack (like for cookies) and set it on top of sheet pan. If you don’t have a cooling rack, you can just put the bacon straight on the sheet pan. Or in a 9×13 baking dish. Either way will work. Place bacon in a cold oven, turn heat to 400, and cook 15 mins per side.

2.  Add 1/2 tbsp bacon drippings to a skillet over medium heat. Add the scallions and saute about 2-3 mins until softened. Add the chicken in a single layer, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 mins or until chicken is golden and cooked through, flipping just once during cooking. Remove the chicken and scallions to a plate and rinse out the skillet.  (I diced up leftover chicken fajita meat instead)

3.  Add about 1/2 tbsp butter to the skillet over medium heat. When foamy, add a tortilla and swirl it around to get it nice and buttery. Layer one side of the tortilla with chicken, bacon, avocado, and a little cheese. Use tongs to flip the other half of the tortilla over and press down. Cook the tortilla for about 1-2 mins on each side or until golden brown and crispy.

4.  Repeat with the rest of the tortillas, adding a little more butter for each tortilla as needed. Eat & enjoy!

Makes 4 quesadillas.

Baby Food: Sweet Potato

I totally forgot to snap a picture of my sweet potato before I cooked it, so I found this one on the Internet!

I enjoyed preparing the sweet potatoes because this was the first thing I actually had to cook.  I chose to bake it which was super easy (400 degrees - 45 min to an hour depending on size).  Before baking, I washed it, poked holes with a fork, washed it again, and wrapped it in foil.

I didn't have time to puree it right after baking, so I threw it in the fridge.  The next day, I cut it in half and took off all the skin (which came off easily).

I tore it into chunks and pureed them with about 2 oz. of formula (I added a little at a time until it was the right consistency).

I froze the puree in ice cube trays and transferred the frozen cubes to a labeled freezer bag.

 

Oatmeal and Sweet Potato Dinner!



E was skeptical of sweet potato just as she has been of any new food.

But she ate it all (as usual) and seemed to be pleased.

23 Weeks

We had a great week.  We started out with a visit from Grandma D.  While she was here, Emery got to meet some of our good family friends, Sallye and Rob.  I say friends, but they might as well be family!  E had another fun playdate this week with JP and Hayden.  All three ended up asleep, but that was nice for the mommies!  We spent yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa K and got to eat yummy homemade Persian food.  Today was a nice relaxing Sunday - church, lunch, naps, and dinner!

Cute pictures from this week:

Tummy Time

Relaxing

Dressed up to meet S & R

Sweet Potatoes!

Playdate here we come!

For some reason, I didn't take any pictures at the playdate, so I stole these from JP's mommy!

 

I can't believe it's the last week of July!  If I were going back to work, I'd be freaking out already.  It's kind of nice not to have the back-to-school stress to worry about!

Have a great week!

Recipe ~ Taco Soup

(Sorry for weird spacing - Blogger is being weird!)

This is a staple in our house because it is tasty and SOOO easy!  It's also really versatile because you can customize it for your tastes or what you have on hand.

You can find lots of variations of this soup out there, but here is how we like it.

Taco Soup
1 pound ground beef or turkey (we use turkey)
1 onion (optional)
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of ranch dressing mix
2 cans of Rotel tomatoes (we use generic)
1 can of corn
1 can of hominy
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of kidney beans

1.  Brown meat and onions and drain.


2. Mix ranch dressing and taco seasoning into meat.

3. Without draining, add all of the other ingredients (the liquid in canned beans/corn/hominy grosses me out, so I drain it and add new water back to the can).

4. Simmer 1 hour(ish).


This makes great leftovers and freezes well too!  We like to serve it over tortilla chips and top it with sour cream, cheese, and chunks of avocado.  Abraham evens throws in jalapenos sometimes.   

Enjoy!

Baby Food: Banana

A few days ago, E started on bananas!

Since bananas are similar to avocado in texture and the fact that they turn brown quickly, I used a similar method for freezing.  I cut each banana into 4 pieces, dipped them in a very diluted lemon juice bath, and froze them.

Once frozen, the chunks were transferred to a freezer bag.

Rice cereal and banana for breakfast

E wasn't wowed by bananas, but she didn't make any horrible faces this time!

We also tried the frozen chunks in these Munchkin Fresh Food Feeders.  

She LOVED that, but so far she won't hold it herself, so I probably won't use them a lot until she takes over!  They are also very messy!

Overall, I'm very happy with freezing in chunks.  It gives me some options for how I serve the bananas.

Up next - Sweet Potatoes!

22 Weeks

The biggest happenings in our house this week were as follows:

E turned 5 months old!!!

(more on that here)

E got to eat some yummy avocado (although she didn't think it was so yummy)!

 (more on that here)

Our good friends Miss Lori, Miss Erika, and Baby Hayden came to visit!

The babies were so interested in each other.

And they thought the whole thing was pretty funny!

A few more pictures of my cutie!

 

 Emery wanted to give a birthday shout out to Grandma D!

Have a great week!

Baby Food: Avocado

Since I'm home full-time, I figured I might as well make E's food myself.  We are just getting started, so I decided to chronicle our journey through new foods (what worked, what didn't, what E thought)!

I've use the Wholesome Baby Food website to get most of my information.  It's a great resource for anyone who's interested in preparing homemade baby food.

Emery started eating rice cereal at 4 months, and we moved to oatmeal after a couple of weeks.  At 5 months, I decided to add in fruits and veggies, starting with avocados.

Avocado is easy to feed a baby since it doesn't need to be cooked, but it doesn't keep long enough for E to eat the whole thing, so I knew I'd need to freeze some to make it work.  I read about several different methods, but I decided to freeze it in chunks and mash as needed.  

I cut the avocado into 8 chunks, dipped each chunk in water with a hint (just a few drops) of lemon juice, and froze them on wax paper.

Once the chunks were frozen, I put them in a labeled freezer bag.

I take out a chunk about an hour before E eats and mash it once it's thawed.  Voila!  

Oatmeal with a side of avocado

Now for the Emery test!!!

At first, I gave her a bite of just avocado, and she wasn't sure what to think!

Still not sure if she wants to eat any of it...

After the first couple of bites, I mixed the avocado in completely with the oatmeal.  She still wasn't sold on it, but she ate the whole bowl.

In the end, she seemed like a satisfied customer!

Stay tuned for our next adventure - bananas!