It's been a while...

Hi! It has been a while since I have posted anything. I haven't had much motivation or encouragment to blog. I just wanted to do a quick post to say "I'm back" :)

Blog posts to come:

Family vacation to Wisconsin, w/ tons of great pic!
Meal plans & recipes
How to make your own table runners

Michigan Trip w/ Pictures Galore!

Last month (actually the day of my last post) I took Garrett to Michigan, along with my parents, to visit my Grandmother, sans Eric. We were there for 7 days. It was so wonderful to be able to see my son with his Great-Grandmother. Family is extremely important to me and I hope to instill this in Garrett as well. My Grandmother (my dad's mom) has lived in Michigan my whole life and I have only seen her a handful of times, so we are not close, but she is my only living grandparent, which made the trip even more special for me. I wanted to plant memories in my mind and document with video and pictures for Garrett so he can see a piece of his family history when he is an adult.

Garrett sitting with Grandpa before take off on his very first airplane trip! I was a little nervous about how Garrett would act on the plane ride & how the other passengers would re-act to him (and to me). It was a night flight so I knew the passengers would want some quiet. Luckily it was Garrett's bedtime, so as we took off I put him in his car seat and he went to sleep. 45 minutes into the flight he woke up and cried (screamed) on and off for about 30 minutes. Finally I just took him out of his car seat and held him. He was much happier to be awake, so my parents and I took turns holding him and giving him snacks. He was great for the rest of the flight!

4 Generations of Zalots!

I walked into the living room and Grandma was holding Garrett, I was little surprise since she's in her 80's I thought he might be too heavy for her, but she held him more than I expected :) Sitting in the chair with them is her little 6 lb. dog Molly. Garrett and Molly played together quite a bit throughout the trip.

Garrett was having so much fun playing in the kitchen. He loved all the knobs on the drawers, it kept him entertained while I cooked his breakfast!

She had this tiny bathroom, with an even tinier shower. Garrett played in it every chance he got. He kept climbing in and out and would look at me and laugh. What a cutie!

Something else to keep him entertained, my suitcase. He had a great time climbing in and out. So by the end of the trip I removed all my clothing and just kept toys in their for him to "find" when he opened it :)

Can you see the resemblance? My dad looks just like my grandmother & after spending time all together I could definitely see the resemblance in my face as well, which surprisingly made me happy. The features I hated most on my face I now love (which has given me new features to hate ~ gotta love being a woman)!

This was our last day, right before we left for the airport. That was a sad time for me realizing that I may not see my grandmother again.

I had mixed emotions about going, but all in all I am glad I went, it created memories that I will carry with me forever. No regrets!

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.