Girl's Night Out!

I have really been needing some "girl time," I was getting pretty stressed. So my friend Christina suggested a Girl's Night Out! She lives about an hour away, so we packed up our stuff to stay the night. The husband's stayed at her house and watched the babies while we had a nice evening of dinner and dancing. Then the next morning all the guys played golf while we had breakfast and lounged around with the babies. It was a pretty good set up!

We had Sushi for dinner, a favorite of all the girls, and then off to a nearby club for dancing and bonding time. It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again. It's nice to have some time apart from being a wife and mother to discover your sense of self.

Me & Liz

Here is Candida and Christina line dancing! :)

Spaghetti Squash

I promised that I would tell you all how my Spaghetti Squash turned out; it was amazing! Eric was skeptical that the squash would actually look like spaghetti noodles and he thought the sauce would be weird on the squash. I was just trying to have a positive attitude, hoping we wouldn't hate it :)

I took pictures so you can see, it was so delicious, healthy and super easy to make.

Here is how I made it:

1.) Preheat oven 400 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on each half and sprinkle w/ salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 40-45 min or until flesh is tender.

2.) While squash is roasting make your desire sauce and let simmer until squash is ready.
I made a tomato based sauce with ground beef, onions, mushrooms and green bell pepper.

3.) Take squash out of the oven and use a fork to pull the strands away from the skin. Leave in the shell.

4.) Spoon sauce over the squash and top with fresh basil, fresh parsley and Parmesan Cheese.

5.) Enjoy!

What's for dinner? (week of 5-24)

Sunday - Leftovers for me (Eric had a poker night with some friends)
Monday - Brats on the grill, rice & broccoli, chips & queso dip, Mango Margaritas!
Tuesday - Green chili beef enchilada casserole & corn
Wednesday - Chicken pot pie w/ red potatoes & veggies, homemade cheesy biscuits on the side
Thursday - Soup & Sandwiches (then off to the airport)
Friday - Eric only - leftover Enchilada Casserole
Saturday - Eric only - Dinner at a friends

*Baked good for the week : Banana Nut Bread
**Dessert for the week: Double Chocolate Covered Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies
If I am not too tired I am going to attempt these today!

Garrett and I are leaving Thursday evening to take a trip to Michigan. We are visiting my grandma, Garrett's great-grandma. Eric will be staying at home and I have been stockpiling some meals for him in the freezer. Banana Nut Bread is his favorite, so I will make that for him before we go :)

Happy Days!

Garrett got several toys for his birthday; he loves them all. He is at such a fun age exploring and learning something new each day. These great toys are providing him with hours of fun, which is leaving me with a bit more extra time, yea!

Here are Garrett and daddy playing with the super fun Water Table. This this provides endless entertainment! Garrett loves to be wet, he just laughs :)

My mom got Garrett this great all star sports center that plays music, claps when you make a basket & lights up numbers w/ each basket. You can see that Garrett loves to spin the football as fast as he can!

Here, he has just made a basket, a skill that he has recently learned.

CHEESEBURGERS? OH MY!!!

Last week I was really craving one of those little cheeseburgers from McDonald's. I decided, since Garrett is now one, has 11 teeth and pretty much eats everything, that he could have one too! So this is his very first bite of a fast food burger... is that a bad mom? :)

He was loving the cheeseburger, he couldn't get enough of it!

Eric and I are having so much fun with our newly 1 year old toddler. Thanks for sharing in this journey. We really love reading all of your comments you post on our blog!

2 More?

This morning I was doing my morning ritual of tackling Garrett to the ground to change his diaper. He is in this wonderful stage where he twists his body every which way and then crawls away so I can't change him, I'm usually half way through the process when he starts doing this so there's generally poop involved; fun times!
Anyway, while he was screaming I noticed a tooth poking through, a molar on the bottom. So awhile later I stick my finger in to check things out and sure enough, there are 2 molars! So now he has 3 molars and a total of 11 teeth, wow! So, needless to say I don't have any food restrictions anymore, I feed him whatever I am eating basically. Yesterday he even tried shrimp :)

What's for dinner? (Week of 5/17)

Breakfast for the week : Baked Oatmeal w/ Apples (this is the most delicious thing I have ever made! Garrett just loves it, he bounces up and down in his seat the whole time I feed him.) I'll post the recipe later
Wednesday Breakfast Brunch @ MOPS - Apple Cinnamon Puff Pancake (I can't wait to make this it looks fantastic!)


Sunday - Bar-B-Que at a friends house
Monday - Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Lime Chicken w/ rice and mixed veggies
Tuesday - Shrimp Scampi
Wednesday - Spaghetti Squash w/Super Thick Bolognese Sauce (I have never tried spaghetti squash before, I'll let you know how it turns out)
Thursday - Chicken Enchiladas w/ beans, lettuce & tomato
Friday - Sausage, tomato & peppers w/ penne pasta
Saturday - Girl's Night Out! - RA Sushi

Dessert of the Week : Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (from this month's Martha Stewart Magazine) These are so delicious and really do taste like shortcakes and for a MS recipe, they were surprisingly easy.

Looking Back

After posting about Garrett's 1st Birthday got me thinking about when he was a newborn. He was so tiny, sweet and cuddly. I miss the days when the babies just curl up on your chest when you hold them. Here are a few pics of Garrett throughout the year.

This was at one of my baby showers. I had Garrett 3 weeks later and my stomach was already super huge!

Garrett was jaundiced, so he had to spend the night in the nursery under these lights to simulate the sun. It was very sad, however the little glasses he had to wear were adorable.

For the first couple months he used to pucker his lips and make this little "kissy"face.

Having fun with some tummy time.


He used to smile and coo at this little owl on his swing, so cute!


He loves to play with balls, lots of fun :)

Auntie Brooke made this adorable hat.

He loves to stand up on everything, especially the couch because he can bounce!

I hope you enjoyed this little look back on the stages in Garrett's life.

Garrett's 1st Birthday!

This is a little late, I took a week off from using the computer. I've been so busy that I needed a break.

We celebrated Garrett's birthday on Saturday, May 9th, at our house. All of our closest family and friends came over. It was such a fun day! Since Garrett loves water so much, I decided to have a water party. I bought him a water table & the most adorable baby pool that you hook up to the hose and it has little sprinklers that shoot out.

Since the AZ sun is so bright and hot, my smart husband Eric, set up our camping gazebo so the kids wouldn't get sunburned. Inside the gazebo on the right is Garrett standing up playing at the water table. To the left is the pool with Quincy (Candida's baby) and Tyler (Christina's baby). Quincy absolutely loved the little pool and was swimming around like a fish. Tyler was a bit unsure about the pool and got out pretty quickly.

Ezra loved helping Garrett play in the water table. He thought it was pretty great :)

Grandma Zalot (my mom) is helping Garrett play with the sprinklers in the pool. He was so funny, he kept trying to grab the shooting water.


This picture is a little fuzzy because it is taken through the gazebo, but I thought Garrett looked so old.

Garrett is so happy to help rip open his presents. He got so many cute new outfits, books & some really great toys. He had the best time of his life. He never stopped smiling the whole day!


A family pic, we didn't get too many, we were so busy with the festivities.


This picture is hilarious. So I put the cake out in front of him and he just looked at me not knowing what to do. I stabbed it with a spoon to get him going and he ate the spoon a bit, then he decided to touch the cake. He didn't like the way it felt but he wanted to eat it, so he decided to just dig in with his face! He was eating it like a dog, we all were cracking up. Eric took some great video of it I can't wait to watch it over and over each year :) . It was such a happy day for all of us, my baby is now a toddler, look out world!

Garrett gets his cast off!

This has been such a busy week preparing for Garrett's 1st birthday and taking him to his doctor's appointments. On Thursday, I drove out to Mesa for Garrett to get his cast off. It was a 3 part process.

1. They took us back, I held Garrett on my lap and the nurse used this electric saw and buzzed off the cast. Garrett let out a little cry at first because of the noise, but then he just watched with interest. I was so proud of the way he handled it, like a big boy.

2. They did x-rays on his leg to make sure the fracture was repaired. The last time Garrett got x-rays, he screamed and it was a horrible process. This time the nurse gave him a little snack (Teddy Grahams) and he was happy, he hardly put up a fuss at all.

3. We met with the Doctor who showed me the x-rays. The fracture healed perfectly. New bone has grown and the doctor said it will be stronger than before. Praise the Lord!

When we got home from the appointment, Garrett kept standing up and sitting down, over and over. He was very happy to have the cast off and try out his leg :)

His leg was super dry and flaky when the cast came off. This picture below was taken after 3 applications of lotion & it is still really gross. Eric gave him a bath that night and the next day most of the flaking was gone.

On Friday, his birthday, he had his 1 year well check. If you remember his 9 month well check he lost weight, then he had a weight check appointment when he was 10 1/2 months, he gained almost a pound. Well at this appointment, my little buddy gained 2 more pounds, yea! He now weighs 17.5 pounds. The doctor is happy and I am relieved.

What's for dinner (week of 5/3)?

Sunday - Classic Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Monday - Vegetable & Cheddar Quiche
Tuesday - Cinco de Mayo Potluck w/ our Bible Study
Wednesday - Greek Tortellini Soup & Garlic Bread
Thursday - Fettuccine Alfredo w/ Chicken, Mushrooms & Brocciflower
Friday - Homemade Mushroom, Tomato, & Pepper Pizza w/ a Garden Salad
Saturday - Garrett's 1st Birthday Party (subs, sides & cake)