Allie is 16 months old!

How does that happen? One minute you are waking up all night long nursing a helpless little baby, the next you are running around making sure your toddler isn't getting into something bad. I can't believe how much has changed so quickly.

Allie is so super cute right now, and MAN does she have a little personality on her. She is stringing together 2-3 word phrases..."I get it", "no no Rose Rose"', and one of my personal favorites "Thank you mama"- that one melts my heart a little each time she says it. She knows SO many words- I'm thinking over 100 now, from book, to bee, to pumpkin, and turkey (because of the recent holidays). She knows lots of animal sounds, and we are working on counting to 3 (she has 1-2, but not 3 without a prompt) as well as colors. She continues to explore more and more each day, climbing EVERYWHERE, and running around like she owns the place. She has been more assertive lately, becoming more independent and making a few choices. Which in turns means she is more sassy- hitting, throwing, and generally being bad ;-) time outs, and owies are funny, so we continue to redirect her and show her appropriate behaviors- I hope she catches on soon!

This past week we celebrated Thanksgiving- we went to my parents on Thursday, and my in-laws on Friday. It was good to see our family and Allie had a great time entertaining everyone. We also got together with our friends from Troy- one of them just moved back into town from Kansas City, and it is always good to catch up and see our friends- adult interaction is short lived these days. As much as I appreciate the time off work for Thanksgiving I am looking forward to Christmas break. I love spending time with my little girl, she is growing each day.

A few other happenings- I went with a group of girl friends to see the Blue Man Group at the Fox- we paid $65/ticket, however one of the girls used to work at the Fox and was able to get us a refund and FREE TICKETS!!! We sat in the 10th row and it was an awesome show! Also, we had full family pictures taken at Faust Park in Chesterfield. I have attached a couple pictures for your enjoyment ;-)

As far as me and Scott- combined we have lost a total of 40 pounds! We started back in August, and it is more of a life style change than a diet. It is nice to feel better, and get compliments, but the health benefits are priceless. We are eating more dinners at home, and with me pre-planning them I know exactly how many calories I am taking in each day and can plan accordingly. Lately I've been using the My Fitness Pal app, and I have some girls on there keeping me accountable, which has been great. My ultimate goal is 10 more pounds which will put me at my high-school/college weight (currently I am at my wedding weight- but my body is a different shape since having a baby). Hopefully I can make it through the holiday season without going crazy.

Well...sorry for the long update...this is my first post from my iPad ;-)

Until next time!

Well hello again!!!

I had been doing so well blogging, then I got a little busy... But here I am again!!

Last night was Halloween and we took Allie to a local church for a "trunk or treat" inside with games and candy. Then we stopped at the "Haunted Street" in St. John on our way home- so Allie could see what it was like to go door to door... Most of the time she just ran and cried- the only thing that made her happy was a sucker (imagine that). She dressed like a kangaroo, a costume we borrowed from a friend- it was adorable!!

Last Saturday was the annual Apple Butter Festival in Kimmswick. We took Allie and met my in laws to enjoy some apple butter fun! Whew- it was busy and Allie ran around like a crazy woman, my mother in law bought her a cute blue bow and candy cane striped babylegs! Because it was so busy we decided to leave to get lunch, but Allie fell asleep in the car- and we had to head home instead...:-(

Last Sunday we celebrated my nieces 5th birthday and my nephews 4th birthday at their house. This year I rolled up $$$ and put it into balloons, and gave them each a book. My sister in law made AMAZING cupcakes!!! And we had pizza- my favorite :-) Allie was good for the first part of the party, but then she started getting tired running around crazy like, and grabbing all the kids toys, and breakable decorations in the house- so we left a little early.

We have been busy!! Enjoy some pictures!!!

My how the time flies!

I had been doing so well at keeping my blog up to date, and somehow things just got away from me... Oh well :-) I suppose I will update you with a few happenings and then share my weekly menu with you all.

We have been enjoying some of the fall events around town this year.  So far we have been to the St. Ann fall festival and Allie saw her first parade.  We supported Overland and headed up to their Heritage Festival, we browsed all the little tents with homemade "stuff" and enjoyed some live music. We also made it to the St. Charles Oktoberfest (Allie's 2nd time!)  Two weeks in a row we were able to get babysitters and go to a friends house for a BBQ, and then to Oktoberfest in Soulard (it was ok this year- a new location that I was not that fond of...oh and they only had 1 stand with pretzles, WHAT?! Why do you think I go to Oktoberfest?). We celebrated my father in laws birthday a little early, and I was able to visit my grandma last week.

Allie is getting busier everyday! She has started to put a few simple words together, and really she is as sweet as can be :-) she just learns so much each day it is amazing. Oh, and her new "trick" is the wet noodle...when we go to pick her up and it is at a time that she is NOT interested in moving, she turns into a wet noodle and throws a little fit...too funny!

As for my weekly menu I really have not given it much though...so here goes nothing (and YES, I know I made that monthly calendar, but I'm not sure we have stuck to that on more than 3 occasions  :-)

Monday- Quinoa wraps - I just made this up ;-)
-cooked quinoa, black beans, shredded cheese, and veggies (it reminds me of the power bowl from Crazy Bowls and Wraps- without the chicken)

Tuesday-10 can soup (this is my own edited version of 10 can soup)
-1 can rotel-1 can chili with beans-1 can chili without beans-1 can tomatoe soup-1 can veggie soup-1 can diced tomatoes-1 bag frozen mixed veggies-1 pound of ground meat browned- mix it all together on the stove, or in the crockpot.

Wednesday- mini meat-loaves
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mini-meatloaves/ 
-I use bread crumbs instead of oats

Thursday- home made pizza
I use the bread machine to make the pizza dough from scratch, then we add premade pizza sauce, a little Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and toppings of our choice.

Friday- leftovers

**Printable** Blank shopping list

I am attempting to attach a cute little BLANK printable I made a few weeks ago.  Feel free to use it and share as you wish!

Of course the program I used to upload this document reformatted it including my CUTE little fonts...I will have to play around with it a little and see what my best options are.  Thank you for being patient with me as I am still learning :-)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/108493994/Shopping-List-Blank

Menu for the week- with grocery list!!!

I was a little ambitious this past week- must have been the new Keurig maker at home :-).... But I made a menu for the month of October!!! The entire month!!! I've split the menu into weeks for shopping lists as well as recipes. Making a monthly grocery list is something I can not wrap my head around right now... Similarly to planning food for the weekends ;-)

Anywho enjoy the menu for the month and this weeks grocery list with recipes!

Monday- chicken fried rice with egg rolls. Cook rice- add 1/4 bag frozen peas, 1 egg, and soy sauce to taste.

Tuesday- tuna noodle casserole- cook wide egg noodles- add cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup milk, rest of frozen peas (from yesterday), 2 cans tuna, top with cheddar cheese to taste and bake at 350 for 25 min.

Wednesday- peppered pork tenderloin with broccoli. Rub pork with pepper, olive oil, and garlic clove, bake at 400 for 15 min. Serve with steamed broccoli.

Thursday- chicken chili with corn bread- recipe from Skinny Taste- http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts.html?m=1

Friday- leftovers!!!

I made my grocery list on my new iPad... But I could not figure out how to attach it here, so all you have right now is a picture of it :-)...I'll keep working on it!!

This weeks menu

Sorry it is Friday and I am jut getting around to post my menu... Basically this is what we had for dinner this week :-)

Monday- Hamburger Helper and corn on the cob

Tuesday- Pineapple salsa chicken, and tortilla chips/salsa

Wednesday- Sonoma Steaks (Time for Dinner meal- YUM!), and broccoli

Thursday- Anniversary dinner- DH is surprising me

Friday- Leftovers

Although today is Friday and because we eat our leftovers for lunches we no longer have leftovers... So I'm thinking sandwiches for dinner tonight. Or basically a fiend for yourself, unless I can whip something up real quick...

Just wait to see what I have to surprise you with next week for my "menu plan"!!! (Grocery list, recipes, and a MONTH of dinners planned!!!)

Happy Anniversary

Last night Scott and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! Woo hoo!!! 4 years and one beautiful baby later we are still going strong!

As a tradition Scott always plans dinner as a surprise for me and this year we went to FarmHaus in the Ivanhoe district. It was yummy!!! All fresh, local, and organic ingredients. We each started with a drink- a cab for me and a scotch for Scott. And for dinner we shared 3 small plates. Nachos- sweet potato chips with sweet red sauce, blue cheese, and bacon pieces (pic below). Cotechino- sausage on a bed of collared greens with turnips. Snapper- which is a fish usually caught with a rod/reel one fish at a time = more expensive for us :-) it was served on baked apples and smoked pecans. For dessert we had roasted apple pie with smoked apple butter, and butter ice cream. As much as I LOVE desserts I was not a fan on this one. Some how I missed that it was smoked/roasted. But none the less it was a super yummy dinner with my Root.

During dinner we opened our cards- Scott told me not to get a gift this year and that he had everything already planned. ANOTHER surprise for me! He bought us an APPLE iPad! Can't wait to try it out! The traditional gift for 4th year anniversary is flower/fruit. So I'd say he stuck to it perfectly!

Another year has come and gone... Can't wait to see many many more together. <3