Madison Dancing

Here is a video of Madison rockin out to Single Ladies at the recent 4-H dance that we had after achievement night. She obviously had a blast, and the kids were just awesome with her. Enjoy!

Mothering

So having two kids has made me a better mother, and I think a personal overall. I think that when you have two kids, you realize that you don't have any time to do anything, so when you do have time, you use it wisely. I no longer take naps on the weekends like I used, instead I use that time, to pick up the house, fold laundry, prepare dinner, etc. Speaking of Dinner, I have even started cooking dinner every night. I know crazy right, but it's true. I even cook dinner on the weekends, infact its sunday, and I have cooked lunch and have a Roast in the crock pot for dinner!

I have to thank my kiddos for making me a better person, the person I always knew I could be, but never had the motivation to become. So thanks to my wonderful Family for getting my butt in gear!

Family Pictures

Family Pictures

Pictures from the UW Game

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Madison was all dressed up from church and she was so proud of her dress, so we got some pictures.

Madison and I

Little Conner in the cutest outfit ever!

Bailey and Madison at the UW game, couldn't they just be sisters!

Cousins

Last weekend the girls got to spend a lot of time together, Robbie and my brother-in-law spent a lot of time working on their basement. We snapped this photo of them snuggled all together for a nap, while watching Princess and the frog! Aren't they just too adorable!

This weekend we are all going over to Laramie to watch the UW vs USAFA game. I've already got Madison yelling Go POKES!!!

Sunset

So last week the Hitching Post burnt down, it was a sad day and apparently it was arson. First off I can't believe that someone would do that! Anyway, it started burning at 6:30 in the morning, and burned through the day and through the night. Well that evening I was watering my plants outside and the sunset was absolutely gorgeous because of the smoke. So I grabbed my camera and got a few pictures, here they are.

Unsupervised 2 year old

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old unsupervised for 2 minutes!!!

The other night Madison snuck up to my bathroom and got into my mascara, this was the results afterwards. Thank god it wasn't waterproof!

busy, busy, busy!

Well in the past couple of weeks we have been super busy. Since we found out that we are moving in January to California we are really trying to clean up, clean out, and organize to make it easier. We came back from a mini vacation back home and have been doing so much, here is a little bit of what we've done.

• Cleaned out our storage unit and moved all that stuff to our garage. We decided it would be easier to do this now during the nice weather, rather than trying to do it during the freezing weather. Unfortunately now I can't park in the garage, but it's only a few months.
  
• Deep cleaned the kitchen and pantry. By deep clean, I mean deep clean, I cleaned everything from head to do, the refridgerator, over, microwave, cabinets, countertops, and sink are sparkling. I also threw about 4 bags of expired food away! What a waste I know, but we can't take it with us either.
  
• Packed up all my clothes that don't fit! Which sadly enough is a lot. I know I just had a kid and all, but it is still depressing how many clothes don't fit. However I don't believe in throwing them out, someday I will fit back into them. When I did this, I cleaned out all the closets, dressers and such too. It feels so good to clean, purge, and give stuff away that we aren't using.
  
• Cleaned out the bathrooms. Do you realize how much you acquire in a bathroom, different products and such, it was crazy. But feels good to have them cleaned though.

I only have a few things left to really clean, like the desk area, which I am procrastinating on, but I have to get it done before I go back to work in a week. It does feel so good to have it all done before I go back to work though!

I also finally got all of my thank you notes written for after Conner was born. I know what a slacker, but we had a ton going on after he was born, and now it's finally done, wahoo!

Attached are a couple of pictures of my beautiful boy, couldn't resist taking some pictures of his smiling face!

Happy 4th!

Well its true, we made it through 4 wonderful years of marriage, with 2 beautiful kiddos, and 3 spoiled dogs to show for it!

Happy Anniversary Baby, hope we have at least 40 more!

Delicious Dinner

So I love Chicken Tortilla Soup, but in the Summer I cannot bring myself to make or eat soup, it's just too hot. But today I was craving it, so instead I decided to make Chicken Tortilla Soup into a casserole. Here's the recipe I hope you enjoy it!


4 Tbls Oil
4 Bell Peppers Chopped ( 1 of each color)
2 Jalapeno Peppers Finely chopped
1 Onion Chopped
4 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
3 tsp of Ground Cumin
1 tsp of ground Coriander
3 tsp Salt
3 Tbls Tomato Paste
2 Large Cooked Chicken breasts cubed
2 cups frozen corn
1 can Cream of chicken soup
1 can Cheddar Soup
2 cups Chicken stock
3 Cups instant rice
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice ( I used Colby)
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro

Heat the oil in a pan on medium high heat, add all the vegetables, garlic,cumin, coriander, and salt, let it cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add Tomato paste and heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. In a separate bowl mix chicken, 1/2 of the chicken stock, and both soups. Then add the vegetables. In a 9 X 13 glass baking dish coat the bottom with rice, then add the other half ofthe chicken stock to the rice just to help it cook a bit. Layer the vegetable and chicken mix on top of the rice. Top that off with the cheese and Cilantro, then bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This was super easy and incredibly good, tasted just like the recipe I have for the soup. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

The Power of Goals

It's always a good thing to set goals for yourself, it's even better to put them down in writing an then that way you are held accountable. Thus being said, I am writing my blogging goals down on here, so that maybe you all can hold me accountable, because apparently I just suck at this blog thing. So here are my blogging goals:

1. Post more often - At least once a week! This really is more relevant. We just found out that we are moving to California in January, so I will no longer be living in the same town as my sisters, and much, much farther away from the rest of my family, therefore it's a good time to start a habit of posting more regularly, so that all my friends and family can see what we've been up to.
   
2. Take more pictures: I am horrible at taking pictures. With Madison I had taken 200 pictures by the time she was 2 weeks I haven't taken that many and Conner is already 8 weeks, I feel like such a slacker.
   
3. Link my new posts to Facebook etc. Especially when I am posting about good recipes, great deals, etc.
   
   Ok so these are my goals, please hold me accountable!

It's been way too long

Ok So I know it has been way too long since I last posted. There has been a lot going on since the last time I posted, so here we go.

My sister Sara and her husband Shane and their second baby girl on March 19th, she was 7 lbs, 14 oz., 21.25 inches long. She is a healthy baby girl, and Bailey is adjusting well. Here are some cute pictures. of the them.



When we first took Bailey up to see Mom, Dad, and new sister Sydney, we were only there for about 15 minutes, when Bailey looked at me and said "Aunt Jenna, I'm done with baby, let's go, come on, let's go" She then proceeded to drag me out of the hospital, which is very uncharacteristic for Bailey because she is attached to Mom and Dad. It was so funny, I still laugh about it. Bailey has really adjusted well, and mom and baby are both doing great, just relaxing and spending time getting to know one another.

In the meantime, we have found out what we are having! Yup we are having a boy! Everyone who sees me says they can tell, just by how i am carrying him, apparently, he is all out front. I am already huge, and still have a little under 13 weeks left, so looks to be a big pregnancy again! However the baby is doing great and growing well. We still haven't picked out a name for the baby yet, but hopefully soon we will decide on something, thank god we still have time. The middle name will be Chapman, after his daddy, but if you have any suggestions for the first name, please feel free to leave them, we're open to just about anything.

Now that I am approaching the last leg of this pregnancy, we are really trying to spend quality time with Miss Madison and really enjoy this one on one time that we do have together. She has grown to be such a cute little girl, and I honestly couldn't imagine a day going by with out hearing her loud and constant voice, along with her beautiful laugh. Attached are a couple of pictures of Madison, one is of her in her new swimsuit, we took her and Bailey swimming not long ago and this is the attitude we got from her. She just loves to put her hands on her hips and show off. The other is Easter Morning, we got the cutest dress for her, and she just loved being a little girl! Hope you all enjoy. I have a ton of other pictures to download, and maybe someday I will get those posted, but it could be a while.

Madison's Potty

I couldn't resist including this awesome picture. Madison is semi-potty training and this was taken this morning on her potty chair. I was folding laundry and she grabbed a pair of her underwear and put them on her head, then she ran for the potty. Usually she just wants to sit on it because she doesn't like her diaper, but right after I snapped this photo she actually piddled in the potty, I was so proud of my little goofball!

Madison's New Room

In preparation for the new baby, we moved Madison into what used to be the guest room. We spent the weekend painting, buying furniture and decorating. By we, I mean well Robbie did most of it, at least all of the painting since I am prego. Anyway, Madison was a huge help, she helped move her toys, and helped pull up all of the tape from the painting. She is getting to be such a big girl. She was super excited about her "big girl" bed, and she jumped on it all morning. Anyway, here is a sneak peek of what her room looks like now.

Madison by her bed.
Madison's bed, and her nightstand.

Maddie's corner dresser and the bean bag she just had to have as we were shopping for furniture, she drug it all the way around the store.

And last but not least her big dresser.

We are loving the room and couldn't ask for anything better, she loves it too, which is even better!

Naptime

This is the result of a 21 month old naptime. About a month ago we switched her to the toddler bed, and at night she does great, during naptime, not so much, she would much rather play, then sleep, and this is the result. She pulled out every article of clothing in her dresser, as well as every book, toy and stuffed animal she could reach. And you can also tell that she took off her pants and her diaper, isn't she just a doll!!!