28 January 2010

Toddler!!!!

Harrison has been taking a few steps here and there for about a week. Then today he decided to like it and do it without being prompted. Next thing I knew he was turning and walking all over the place. These are a few videos from today pieced together. Tomorrow I'm sure he'll be running :) crazy kid.

13 January 2010

A chicken recipe I actually like

I am really not one for big pieces of chicken. Like eating a breast of chicken as the main portion of a meal: gross. Cut up in a casserole or fried in a nugget is more my style. Anyway, last week I made this when I wasn't really in the mood for cooking and LOVED it. It was easy and yummy. I'm not morally opposed to cooking with wine but don't typically traverse the wine aisle so I used chicken broth and it was fine. Also, I had extra stuffing that I threw in with the chicken which ended up in the sauce.

Apple Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

  • 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup chopped apple
  • 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon Italian-style dried bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

  1. Combine apple, cheese, and bread crumbs. Set aside.
  2. Flatten chicken breasts between sheets of waxed paper to 1/4 inch thickness. Divide apple mixture between chicken breasts, and roll up each breast. Secure with toothpicks.
  3. Melt butter or margarine in a 7 inch skillet over medium heat. Brown stuffed chicken breasts. Add wine and 1/4 cup water. Cover. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.
  4. Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Combine 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch; stir into juices in pan. Cook and stir until thickened. Pour gravy over chicken, and garnish with parsley. Serve.

08 January 2010

Happy Birthday Monkey Face!!!

Today was Harrison's Birthday--I can't believe he is ONE already!! The year has flown by so fast. I feel like he grows and changes every day. He has such a fun, inquisitive, crazy personality. When he is not driving me insane he makes life lots of fun!!

Since Harrison is 12 months old today--here are 12 of the fun things he's been up to lately:
1. Almost walking--he's stood a few times alone but besides that he pulls himself up on everything and everyone. He crawls FAST backwards and forward. He goes over and around and under. If he wants it, he gets it.
2. Laughing it up--it's getting easier and easier to make him laugh and I LOVE it. Tickle him, make a funny face or a weird noise and he finds it hilarious.
3. Too cool for naps--as of yesterday morning naps are SO not necessary anymore. Sad day. Let's hope this doesn't last.
4. Growing-He's finally catching up a bit height wise. Today he weighed in at 22.4 pounds and 29.5 inches. Looking more and more like a boy and not a baby.
5. Bringing me books he wants me to read him. I LOVE THAT.
6. Bringing me toys that he wants me to make play (ones that are a little tougher for him to push the button himself).
7. Clapping when I say YAY or when he gets excited.
8 High fiving.
9. Drinking whole milk....well a little bit of it. I thought he would love the switch from formula but he hated it (who hates whole milk?? He's crazy--have you tasted formula???). After attempting to give him one sippy cup of milk he would cry when ever the sippy was near him. Silly. Now we're on 3/4 formula and 1/4 milk. We'll have to trick him into it!!!
10. Eating everything. With his new top tooth! Yep, he's got two on bottom and one on top now which means it's way easier to break up stuff.
11. Shimmying his little booty out the CAT DOOR. Good thing we have a safety net on the pool. Cory promised me there was NO way Harrison could fit through but he proved him wrong today in about five seconds flat.
12. Talking --mostly baby talk but I've noticed a lot of mama dada and what not although not particularly connected to us. However one word he does know for sure is KITTY!!! He totally knows when kitty is around and connects the word with her when he says it. It's good to know where the love is :)

To celebrate Harrison's big day we had my mom and larry and aaron and stephanie over for dinner and cake. He also got some awesome presents--the adorable church outfit I've been coveting from target and his "first laptop" from stephanie and aaron and some money for a tax-free 529 college account from Grandma and Grandpa. YAY for generous family members!!! (he got some books and a stuffed owl from mommy and daddy too, don't worry)

He wasn't super into the cake because he was pretty filled up on dinner (oops, what was I thinking feeding him first??) but I did get a couple of cute shots.
The turtle cake I improvised with what we had lying around. Yeah. That's a tea light. Stop judging.
Can I touch this?? (it's a cupcake, or the turtle's paw--is it paw??or talon??)

Fun to eat MORE fun to smash!!!
YUM YUM--when he wasn't that into the cake we gave him some ice cream too-he liked that better and shoved the whole of it in his mouth.

03 January 2010