(Day 7) Awesome hat hair.

So Liam is like his Daddy. He gets the most hilarious sleepy and hat hair! But the other day, it was the funniest I have ever seen. He came in from playing (actually while I made "the" lasagna) outside on our balcony and when I took his hat off I laughed hysterically. Of course, this egged him on and he started to make his cheesy "cheese" face. So I had to break out the camera. Sadly, these pictures don't do it justice. At all. He wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a good picture, but these kind of show it.

things got a little silly...i love that boy

Haha his squinty "cheese" face is so funny! He is always afraid the flash will go off and that face is the result! He is such a silly, wonderful boy.

(Day 6) Success in the kitchen

I love to cook. A lot! My whole life I cooked by the books and I had to measure everything perfectly. My husband tried to encourage me to break out and make new recipes, but I was too afraid. I am a perfectionist and it extended to my cooking. My mom would laugh at how exact I was when I cooked. But my goal has been to try and not be so "by the books" and go on my own. Well the last few years I have been doing better at that and lately especially. The other night I decided to do the ultimate. For me ;) I have several lasagna recipes that we like and I wanted 1 ultimate recipe that would combine them all. So I tried the other night to combine all of them. It was scary and my kitchen got totally demolished. But it was a success!!! Richard said it was the best lasagna he has e.v.e.r had. So that was a big compliment. Here is the recipe if you are curious:

Red sauce (from my "awesome cook" friend SarahLynn)
6 carrots-pealed and cut up
2 garlic cloves-minced
1/2 onion cut up
1 tablespoon of butter
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp of Italian seasoning.  
1 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
1 bunch of cilantro-chopped
1 bunch of Italian parsley-chopped. 
3 cans of diced tomatoes
1 lb of hamburger
1 lb of sausage (didn't include this time, but plan to next time)
2 cans of spaghetti sauce.

Warm butter and olive oil in a large stockpot then dump in carrots, onions and garlic. Cook on Medium-Low heat until the carrots start to soften and onions start to turn clear. Add Italian seasoning and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Then add cilantro and parsley to pot and allow herbs to sweat out for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn heat to Medium and add diced tomatoes. Stir frequently. Cook until almost all of the tomato juice is gone (it will look similar in consistency to a chunky salsa but don't worry in a few minutes it will be beautiful). Now transfer that to a bowl and allow it to cool (probably at least 10 minutes) before placing in the blender, and blend until it is thick and saucy. While the veggies are cooling, use the stockpot to cook the hamburger and sausage. You will want to season it with a little bit of salt and pepper. When the meat is all cooked and the veggie herb blend is done combine the two. And then add two cans of spaghetti sauce. Let simmer for 30 minutes and enjoy hearty red sauce (next time I want to cook it ahead and let it simmer in the crock pot on low for a couple hours to make it even better).

Cheese mixture (combination of my mom's lasagna and the recipe from the noodles box)
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 c. mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 c. Parmesan

Cook the red sauce according to the directions and mix together the cheese mixture while the red sauce is simmering. Preheat oven to 375 (I used no-boil noodles so this might be different using normal noodles). When both are done put 1 1/2 cup of red sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 in pan, a layer of noodles (for my noodles 5 worked), half of the cheese mixture, 1 1/2 cups of red sauce, noodles, rest of the cottage cheese mixture and 1 1/2-2 cups of red sauce. Cover with aluminum and cook for 50-60 minutes. When it is done, remove from oven and take off the foil. Put as much mozzarella cheese as you want (I used about 1 cup) and let it sit for 10 minutes at least. The longer you let it sit, the more it settles and is not runny. 

So yummy!! But warning, this is what your kitchen will look like:

That is if you have 2 needy and 1 crying baby who wouldn't nap to take care of while trying to cook. Luckily it cleaned up fast during the lasagnas cooking time. 


We inhaled it SO fast that I didn't get any pictures of the finished thing! But it looked like any normal lasagna, so just imagine that. 

p.s. yeah sorry I didn't post this truly on the 6th. I had most of it written, but didn't finish it because yesterday was crazy busy. Richard and I did go to the temple though! It was awesome.

(Day 5) Hi-lar-ious

So last night, Richard and I did our normal routine:
Dinner
Liams bedtime
And I nurse Brielle while we watch an episode of our fav TV show
Brielle bedtime
Our bedtime

But last night Brielle didn't want to nurse, and just wanted to socialize. She kept pulling off, looking at us and babbling while smiling. And as usual, whenever she does that (which is a lot, little social bug fink), we couldn't help but smile and talk back. But last night, Richard wanted to play with her one last time before I put her to bed. So I went to the bathroom and the whole time heard Richard laughing. Really hard. He told me to come quick so I came back to this:

(the video is better quality on youtube if you want to watch it there. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwg8pHCH45E
I am having a hard time embedding videos from youtube in blog posts. Anyone else having that prob?)

They were having so much fun playing together and she was giving him huge smiles! So I decided to take a picture of her cute squishy face, turned my camera to camera mode, snapped the picture and when I saw the picture, I threw my head back in an uncontrollable, hysterical fit of laughter. That lasted a long time. And included many many tears running down my face. Here is why:

And it does the same thing to me every time I see it. 

Funniest.Picture.Ever.

(Don't worry, we aren't hurting her. Her chubbalicious cheeks just make for perfect squishy lip faces)

p.s. the title of my post was intended to be said like Jermaine from Flight of the Concords says the word in this video at 1:42. Speaking of hi-lar-ious, I freaking love that video. Like lots. Almost as much as that picture.

(Day 4) Baby hug's

This is his "SHE IS SO CUTE" face which also involves high pitch talking and shaking of his body...haha

She stuck her hand in his mouth and he thought it was so funny 

Yesterday I finished nursing and Liam said "BABY HUGS" and then pulled her on top of him so he could give her loves. He proceeded to gently touch her head and "coo" to her while they played for about 20 minutes together. She is just starting to get old enough to play with him and he loves it. He is so sweet and gentle with her and it melts my heart to see them start to play together. She smiles so big whenever she see's him and he is always wanting "baby hugs". I think that a life long deep friendship between these two is just starting to blossom.

Along with her Daddy, she has her brother wrapped tightly around her little finger.

(Day 3) Disappearing tree and broken Jesus

So about the pictures. Yesterday my back was hurting pretty bad and I was laying on the floor with my feet up on the couch (that is supposed to be a great way to take pressure off your back and make it feel better). Liam woke up from his nap and was confused why I was laying like that. So we had our normal post-nap cuddle while I was laying on the floor. He thought it was really fun. That little man is the biggest mama's boy.

So I also thought today I would write some of the cute things he has said in the last couple days.

We were visiting family in WA for 1 1/2 weeks over Christmas and just recently got back a few days ago. The day after we got home, Liam was playing and running around as usual and then stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at me with this surprised, horrified look and said "mommy, where did tree go??" He was so sad that we took down the Christmas tree and it was funny that it took him 2 days to notice it. He's a boy.

The other morning I was leaning against one of our walls that has a picture of Jesus on it. Liam loves that picture and regularly calls out "JESSE" (which is his version of Jesus) while pointing to it. Well I got too close and knocked it off the wall on accident. The frame fell and broke into two pieces. I put the piece with the picture and glass up high until we could fix it and while I was doing that, he grabbed the other part (which wasn't dangerous or anything) and brought it to me. With a very sad, timid little voice he whispered over and over again "mom, Jesse broke". When I fixed it he was very excited and said "look! Jesse!!" 

About a month ago, my sister came over for several hours. Her nickname is Caitie and as usual, I was calling her that the whole night. Right before she left, Liam said "Meow, come here!" My sister and I looked at each other confused, and then it hit me. He thought I was calling her Kitty and so he was referring to her like he does any kitty: Meow! Now that is his name for her and we all giggle whenever he talks to her, because it always starts with "Meow". I foresee a fun nickname for my sister :)

I wish I had a way to record my entire days. He says and does the funniest things all day and I wish I had a way to record all of them before I forget.

Gosh, I love my kidlets more than anything.

(Day 2) Daddy's girl

When we found out Brielle was a girl, Richard was really excited, but a little scared to raise a girl. He had a boy and wasn't sure he knew how to raise a girl. But as soon as she was born, he was instantly smitten more than any daddy-to-a-girl I have ever seen. And that has just increased in exponential ways. She has him mercilessly wrapped around her little finger. He is always hovering around her, kissing her, loving her and smiling at her. It's so precious. And she is a huge daddy's girl! Whenever he walks in the room, she gives him the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen. Every time she see's him. It is so precious to see your little girl so in love with your husband and him just as in love with her!

(Day 1) Sunday morning breakfast

As you know, I am addicted to taking pictures. After I got my awesome camera last year, I have found a passion for taking pictures of the ordinary. the mundane. the everyday. Because when I look back at the everyday pictures, I am so thankful I did. It helps me remember little pieces of my children's childhood I wouldn't normally remember. So this year, my main goal, is to take at least 1 picture a day and write something little about it. Just ordinary things. So that I can look back when they are older and remember the little things about them as children. 

Because the little things, is what life is made of.

"Mom, can't a boy eat a strawberry in peace?"

So here is day 1. Liam and Brielle woke up at 10 this morning (for the second day in a row...please be a new habit...) which was such a huge blessing since last night was New Years Eve! Then we enjoyed a yummy breakfast together as soon as we all woke up. Liam walked around with a strawberry for a long time, taking little bites and Brielle loved watching us eat from her beloved Bumbo chair.

Just a couple hours in and I can tell 2012 is going to be great.