Can't Beat It

Man! I wish I could bottle this up and sell it! I'd be a millionaire. Or at least keep it in storage for the later years when I'm deprived of baby giggles! But at least I can put it on an SD card and share it with everyone!! (Hope you don't mind naked baby)

Big Day! Lots of Pics!

On Saturday Sofie and I got to spend the day with our friend Lisa and her two darling babies. It was Essence's first birthday so we got to celebrate by going to the Hogle Zoo and Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and cake! Sofie mostly couldn't see the animals from her little seat, but she loved the elephant!

Mommy and Baby (can't see the cute baby elephant though)

Sofie wondering what in the heck that giant tall thing was that was chomping on his dinner!

Sofie and Esse just chillin' in front of the monkeys. (Although this picture doesn't show it, Essence is a month younger and is about twice Sofie's size! And Esse was even a premie!)

Sofie and Esse playin' footsies!

Darling Essence has gorgeous eyes!

Almost 2 months old, Baby Eden spent her time sleeping in the stroller and only woke up to have this bottle. (Don't worry, the oxygen is only a precaution)

Chuck E. Cheese!

Both Sofie and Essence LOVED the crazy dancing stuffed Mouse thing.

"Rhapsody in Bleu"

Here is a new recipe I tried this week. It's a lowfat version of Chicken Cordon Bleu, and I really liked it! I got it from www.hungrygirl.com which is a great site if you're interested in lowfat/low calorie alternatives for the food you are used to eating. It uses The Laughing Cow cheese wedges that you can buy in the specialty cheese section of stores. They make a Light Swiss that tastes great! p.s. the picture isn't mine...mine didn't turn out so pretty!

Rhapsody in Bleu
Warm chicken, wrapped around melted cheese and juicy ham that won't break the calorie bank?!

-for one serving-

Ingredients:
One 5 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese, room temperature
1 oz. (about 3 slices) 97-98% fat-free ham slices (I only used one because that was the serving size of the ham I bought)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put chicken in a large sealable plastic bag, squeeze out as much air as you can, and seal. Using meat tenderizer or a can, carefully pound chicken through the bag until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Remove chicken from the bag and season to taste with salt and pepper on both sides. (My chicken was exceptionally thick, so I cut it in half before pounding it)

Lay the chicken flat and spread the cheese wedge over it. Evenly layer the ham slices on top of the cheese. Starting with one of the longer sides (or any side, if it's square), tightly roll up the chicken breast cutlet, and secure with toothpicks.

Place chicken roll in a baking dish lined with foil and/or sprayed with nonstick spray, and then cover the baking dish with foil.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil covering the dish. Continue to bake (uncovered) for an additional 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy! (I cooked 6, and it took about an hour...not the 35 minutes they claimed)

Serving size: 1 chicken cordon bleu (entire recipe)
Calories: 222
Fat: 4.5g
Sodium: 692 mg
Carbs: 2g
Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 1g
Protein: 40g

More sweet dance moves

Pardon the diaper...

Sofie has a habit of turning her milk upside down in her lap during dinner...

But I thought this was a darling video.

Playdate

Today Sofie and I got to enjoy the company of my friend Jess and her sweet Ashlyn! Ashlyn is a little over 9 months now -So Darling!!

Teaching Ashlyn bad eating habits...plastic greasy burger!

Sofie wasn't sure about another little person in her toys.

But they played very nice and even shared the rubber cheese!

Life in the Fast Lane!

Life is rapidly changing these days, and I'm struggling to catch up!

The fun swimming pool from G-ma and G-pa Blatter! It's the perfect size, and is small enough to be an indoor pool too, which will be perfect for the winter!

Sofie is starting to really get around! She's still too short to figure out the stairs though, thank goodness I don't have to worry about those yet! Oh, and yes, we are sportin' the mohawk today!

Sofie is starting to show a bit of obstinance these days as well. Cute, but sometimes a bit tiring!

A Year in Retrospect

THEY GROW SO FAST!!

The first week

3 months

6 months

9 months

1 year

Birthday Girl!

Sofie turned one yesterday! It was noisy and fun with grandparents and some cousins. (Sofie wasn't terribly animated though 'cuz she didn't have much luck with naps that day)

First we opened gifts...lots of gifts. This baby girl is so spoiled!

Then we tried the cake thing (emphasis on tried). Sofie at this point had too much noise and not enough nap I think...so the cake was rather intimidating to her. She just poked around at it for a while. The videos show a little bit. Eventually we gave her a spoon and she played around with that for a while. Then as a last resort Derek pushed the cake into her face. She never really got past the frosting!

I got a free 1st Birthday cake from Albertsons. Pretty cool! Not the cutest cake in the world, but definitely the cheapest. And it did it's job well. (Don't worry, everyone else got a great "Earthquake Cake", which was incredibly good, by the way.)

Take One

Take Two

Can't get over it!!

Here's my little Bam Bam, and I can't get over the fact that she's turning 1 on Sunday!!! Ahhhh! She's so stinkin' cute! Thought I'd blog my feelings on that and just let ya know!

I had to put the clip right on the top of her head so that she couldn't reach it to rip it out.

11 months, 2 weeks and 5 days!!

She walks!! (sort of)

If we can get her to hold onto things in both hands, it tricks her into thinking she's holding onto something for balance and she's more brave. How darling! My little girl is all grow'd up!