Good eaters

Brooks has discovered he likes mustard. I only serve good mustard at our house (none of that yucky plain yellow stuff). His favorite currently is some Killian's Beer Mustard. I gave it to him for the first time with some Morningstar fake chicken nuggets. He ate all the mustard and then ate the nuggets.

He also loves pickles, specifically baby dills. And now Hudson has started liking them. Hudson can even say pickle. Brooks used to say pickle when he was about Hudson's age, but didn't actually like pickles. I thought that's how Hudson would be, but when I gave him a pickle, he actually ate the whole thing. I was looking around on the floor for it, but he ate it!

Brooks loves to make a snowman

Brooks was dying to make a snowman with Ryan on Saturday. They even made a baby snowman that is not in the picture. The baby snowman didn't last through the evening. When we woke up this morning, the big snowman had already lost it's eyes and the hat fell off. This evening it was starting to get big holes in it. I'm sure the first thing Brooks will want to do when he wakes up tomorrow is check on the snowman.

In other news, Hudson is weaned. It went better than I could have hoped. We did the child-led weaning, I didn't offer and he didn't ask, pretty simple! He moved up into the 1 year old room at church since he's now walking. The nursery people seemed a little sad to see him go, they said they could always count on Hudson to be happy even if everyone else was crying.

Other than that, nothing else too exciting going on. I'm hoping that it doesn't snow 3 days this week like it did last week.

Recipes

I slacked off on recipes lately, so I'll try to make up for it.

I've decided to stop buying salad dressing. Homemade tastes so much better and is usually better for you. Here are some one's I've made lately, all from Recipezaar.

Newman's Own Creamy Caesar (Copycat)

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pinch dried basil

1 pinch dried oregano

1. Combine all ingredients and mix with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds.
2. Chill the dressing for two hours before serving.

Sweet - Tart Vinaigrette
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix all together.

I made this for dinner tonight, it was pretty amazing.

Pasta Milano
1 TB butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 cups half & half
1 cup fresh spinach
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces linguini, cooked and drained

Melt butter in large saucepan, add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
Add tomatoes and chicken broth, bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add half & half and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer over medium heat until sauce thickens.

Heat olive oil in skillet. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to skillet. Saute until done.

Add spinach to sauce. Cook until wilted.

Toss pasta with sauce and chicken and serve.

Family picture

We had our family picture taken a few weeks ago at church. They turned out nice, but they were outrageously expensive (especially considering how generic they are) so we only got the free 8x10. Not to mention, Ryan hadn't gotten his new glasses yet and was still wearing his broken glasses that were held together with a nail and some electrical tape.

Brooks got some money ($2) from Ryan's parents for Valentine's Day. He was so excited to go shopping with it at Target last week. We went through the whole store and he couldn't find anything to spend it on. (Well, except some legos that were well over the $2!) He finally decided on some chocolate milk, but then wouldn't hand over the money, so I wouldn't hand over the milk. Finally, on Wednesday (a week later) he decided that he wanted the chocolate milk. So we went into his room to get the money out of the “bank” (a lego building) and he actually traded me the money for the milk! He loved that chocolate milk, it was actually the first time he’s ever had chocolate milk (I know…we’ve deprived him).

Wordless Wednesday

Hudson's turn for an owie...

It was bound to happen, Hudson banged his head on the end table. We had removed the coffee table because we were afraid he would knock himself around on it, but Hudson decided to go for the end table instead. I wasn't sure how deep it was so the Dr had me bring him in. He didn't need anything done to it after all, but I'm glad I took him in. Brooks was very sympathetic and sweet to Hudson after he hit his head and they both were well behaved at the Dr office.

I've caught Hudson putting new diapers in the Diaper Champ and turning the handle around! What a smart little guy. Brooks has become obsessed with wanting to see Hudson's poopy diapers. Brooks also is sure to inform us when Hudson is poopy. How nice of him, if only we could get him to change Hudson's diapers!

Can you believe it's been 2 years?

2 years ago today Ryan and I were on a early morning flight to Guatemala. We had gotten the news on the 13th that our Embassy appointment was on the 15th, so that meant we had to be in Guatemala on the 14th! We scrambled around that evening making reservations and were all set to get Brooks.

We arrived early afternoon and Brooks was brought to us late afternoon by his foster family. What a bittersweet moment, it was sad to see him say goodbye to the only family he had known, but we were so excited to finally have Brooks join our family.

Today we are so thankful for Brooks' birth mom and the choice she made. We pray for her everyday and think of her often. We also are grateful for Brooks' wonderful foster family and the amount of love and care they showed Brooks during their 6 months together. And of course we are thankful for Brooks and the special boy he is. He has grown into a lovable little boy who loves to have fun. He loves music, legos, playing with friends and his little brother, beatboxing, drawing, cars, trains, going to the park (and amusement parks!)......

So, today we celebrate Family Day!

Hudson's first steps

Hudson took his first "real" steps yesterday. He's still mostly crawling (since he's so fast at it). Here's a short video clip of his newfound skills.

Wordless Wednesday

I know, it's now Thursday, but here you go...

As promised

...some pictures of the boys. We only ended up with 6 inches of snow, but Ryan had the day off. The boys were very happy to have him home. Brooks loved helping shovel the drive.


Hudson is really into climbing on top of things. He likes to climb on top of his little table, but then can't get down.

Homemade granola

Jess requested this recipe. I made it yesterday for the first time and it's amazing. Ryan had run out of cereal so I decided to try this. I used all walnuts at Ryan's request and didn't add any dried fruit. It would be good with yogurt or even by itself. We took half a bowl of corn flakes and then added some granola to it. It was a great cereal! The recipe is from Recipezaar.com (my new favorite recipe site!).

Crunchy Granola

1 1/2	cups brown sugar
1/2	cup water
4	teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1	teaspoon salt
8	cups rolled oats
1	cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1	cup almonds, coarsely chopped
	dried fruits, if desired (I usually add cherry flavored cranberries and dates)

Heat oven to 275 degrees F.

1. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine brown sugar and water in a 4 cup microwave proof cup.
3. Microwave on high 5 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla and salt.
5. In large mixing bowl, mix oats, nuts, and brown sugar mixture.
6. Mix thoroughly.
7. Spread onto cookie sheets and bake 45 minutes-1 hour until golden brown.
8. When granola has cooled completely, add fruits if you wish and store in airtight container.