Movin' on up

Hadley has recently moved up to eating other foods besides breast milk and rice cereal. Her first venture was to carrots. She seemed to have no problems with these. Since it was her first experience with a different flavor, she smacked her lips some trying to get used to the new taste. Next on the list was sweet peas. She immediately had a negative response to the peas. I must say that I can't really blame her- those suckers smell terrible! Jared and I got a kick out of her facial expressions. She would close her eyes and shake her head. She would thrust her tongue, or just let the peas sit in her mouth. But our absolute favorite was when she would actually drum up a gag reflex. Poor baby! We actually had to end up chasing the peas with breast milk so she would eat them! After a few times, we gave up and fed her bananas. OOhh boy did she like those. She must take after her mommy; I don't like peas either. Anyone else have a food that their child didn't like?

Houmas House

Yesterday Hadley and I met Aunt Alyssa and Mrs. Raynell and Rex at the Houmas House for lunch. The trick is : you go for lunch (which is really yummy) and then you get to walk around the beautiful grounds and take pics of your children for free! Here are a few pics of us!!

Our baby girl is 6 months old

Hadley turned 6 months old yesterday. She is such a good baby. We are so blessed. She has remained healthy and she is growing each day! She loves her baths and swimming. She has two teeth. She is eating rice cereal twice a day. She is sitting up on her own. She has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently lately. Yippee! She loves running around the house in her walker. She likes grabbing her feet and putting things in her mouth. She loves to babble like her mama. No real words yet, but she is working on "dada". Her eyes are still a hazel color; they have not turned brown yet. She still has lots of hair and she still lets me put bows in her hair! One of my favorite things as a mommy is to get her out of her crib once she has awakened from her nap; the smile on her face melts my heart. I love it. She is such a happy baby; she smiles all the time! We love her so much! We can't wait to experience the next 6 months with her!

Hadley's first time swimming at camp

We went to the camp in Stephensville this Sunday. Hadley was able to swim with her cousins, Rylie, Aubrey, and Dagan. They taught her how to splash and pour water on each other. They had lots of fun together. Rylie helped to feed Hadley and she held her in the pool. Thanks Aunt Judy and Uncle Gary for having us! The food and company was great!

Pictures from Michelle

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Wedding Reception and Honeymoon

I know I am a little behind on the blog hop, but I guess it is better late than never , right? First of all, anyone who knows me knows that I- like most females- had my wedding planned for many years before I actually got to implement my plan. With the exception of the birth of my daughter, I will say that my wedding day was the happiest day of my life. It was perfect! Not only did I end up with the most amazing husband ever, but all the plans went smoothly. The reception was filled with food, family, friends, and fun.... lots of dancing!! I think some of Jared's friends were shocked at his new dancing skills. I taught him how to jitterbug and do some of the most popular line dances. I have to laugh at myself when I think that one of the requirements for a husband was that he like to dance! There are so many more important qualities to wish for... luckily Jared has all of those and he dances!!! Sorry ladies... no brothers!

Anyway, back to the reception. I don't have very many pics on the computer , but I will post a couple.

The honeymoon. We went to the Couples Swept Away Resort in Negril, Jamaica. It was awesome! All inclusive is the way to go! We loved all the water sports, especially snorkeling and the Hobie Cats. We ate and ate and ate... Our favorite was the banana stuffed french toast. We still talk about that. Yummy! We went to a few shows at night and layed out on the beach during the day and read or did water sports. We would love to return one day!

Mango Tango Black Bean Salsa

Great dip for summer time. Healthy too. We also bought some flour tortillas and grilled some chicken on the George Foreman and added the salsa for a meal. As a salsa, it can be served with regular tostido scoops.

Prep time: 10 minutes

1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn with peppers, drained
1 medium mango, peeled, pitted and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin( I had this on my spice rack from our wedding)

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir! Can't beat that!!

Coming next 2 quick and easy party dip options!

Quick, Easy, and Yummy Recipes

For those of you who know me well, you know that these recipes really are easy- meaning they don't take very long and they have very few easy to find ingredients and they are yummy! That's how I roll!! I have tried them on others and they have proved successful.
Recipe #1: Easy Cinammon Vanilla Pancakes
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5- 10 minutes for multiple batches
Serving size about 12 pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose baking mix (which I now know means Bisquick!)
1 cup of Fat-Free Cinnamon Vanilla Creme flavor Nestle Coffee Mate Liquid coffee creamer
1/2 cup of 100% pure pumpkin
2 large eggs

If you like maple syrup on top, you can add that.

Directions: Combine baking mix, coffee-mate, pumpkin, and eggs into a large bowl. Stir until blended.

Spray some Pam or grease a griddle or large nonstick skillet. Heat over medium high heat. Pour 1/4 cup pancake batter onto hot griddle for each pancake; cook 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with syrup.

Coming up next: Mango Tango Black Bean Salsa

Enjoy!

P.S. Another fun idea we have implemented lately is root beer and coke floats. We brought this to a party for dessert and everyone was having so much fun with it. They said they haven't had a root beer float in years. I know it brought back some memories for me as a kid. How fun!! Easy too!!

Hadley's first road trip

Hadley and I decided it was time to take a road trip to see Karla and Riley in Pineville. I was a little nervous about taking the baby by myself, but I wasn't about to miss a chance to see Karla and Riley, so we ventured out, said some prayers, packed up all the necessary baby attire and equipment, and hit the road. The Lord definitely answered my prayers because my sweet little angel slept the whole way to Pineville!! Thank you Lord! We arrived about 11:00 am. We had lunch and visited and swam for a little while and then played and visited some more. Hadley and Riley got along well. It was great to see them together. CAn't wait until the next visit! We had lots of fun! The ride home went well too, until we got to Baton Rouge during rush hour on a Friday afternoon. She did well, but I was about to go crazy from the traffic and road construction. Overall, a great first road trip!