Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

Today I'm making a Garden Fresh Tomato Soup from scratch. I'm serving it with a yummy grilled cheese sandwich for me and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for Steve.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We spent the day just with our own little family. Natalie cooked while Steve cleaned. James was our little supervisor (when he was awake). The dogs, well Duke and Scout are experts at catching any and every falling piece of food from a bread cube to a potato peel.

This year Natalie was ambitious and cooked everything but the gravy from scratch. We had the Turkey (FlyLady's Thanksgiving Menu Mailer by Leanne Ely), Mashed Potatoes and Stuffing (Better Homes and Garden's cookbook), Cranberry Sauce (Better Homes and Garden's cookbook) with our own healthier spin on it, Biscuits (Bisquick so not totally scratch), Green Beans (SimplyRecipes.com), and Gravy (packet). The links will take you to the recipes online.

In the Navy!

Andrew has officially been sworn into the Navy. Congrats Andrew!! We are so proud of you.

Here is the Navy song Anchors Aweigh

Here is Andrew

And Andrew again being sworn in

 

And just because I can't resist it, the song by the Village People

7 Months!

It's hard to believe that James is seven months old today. It seems so weird. I know he has grown and learned so many new things, but I can still remember those first few weeks so vividly in my mind. I am so very thankful for Steve and his ability to be super dad while I was in the hospital and he was super husband when I got home. It was such a different feeling not being able to take care of myself, let alone my own baby other than the bare minimum. I love Steve so much for those days and all the ones we've had since. He is a wonderful dad!

Now that James is seven months old, he can sit pretty well. He puts lots of weight on his legs but can't stand all on his own yet. He knows where the spoon full of food goes (and it doesn't end up on the floor!) but he still needs to get down scooping food from the bowl. He can roll all over the place so we put the pack and play downstairs so he can play in that rather than me worrying about him rolling into the legs of the coffee table or getting into the computer wires. Note to self, baby proof soon!

James loves to talk but can't say any actually words yet. Sometimes we think he says "Hi" or "Hello" or "Yea Yea" but that is probably wishful thinking. He giggles and laughs and loves it when daddy plays with him. It's so much better than when mommy plays with him for some reason. That's ok though, I get the quiet times still and he gives great hugs!

James used to be afraid of and hate baths but not anymore. Now he likes to splash his feet and I know that when we progress to the actual big tub, he will enjoy playing there too. For now he will just go in the baby tub at the sink though. It's easier on the back.

We try to get out and socialize a lot with other moms and little ones. Right now we are going to Babygarten at the library on Wednesdays and we alternate Infant Massage and MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) on Thursdays. I still try to get out and go to spouse club events but it has gotten much harder with James around. I can't go to the whole club events and bring him with. Since babysitters are expensive (and I can't stand to leave him with anyone yet), I can't go to the whole club events. Gourmet Club and Lunch Bunch still meet once a month and I hope I can keep those up. For Gourmet Club, I can leave James with daddy and for some of the Lunch Bunch dates I can bring James with. Since it's going to restaurants, I try to judge whether it would be a good idea to bring James based on the type of restaurant.

Lately Steve and I have been eating at home exclusively. Not that we don't want to take James to restaurants, but we've been cooking together and having lots of fun. We put James in the highchair and he watches us cook. We've come across some great recipes and have been making some amazing meals. From Steve's baked apples for breakfast, to the Stromboli for dinner and many different dishes in between.

What I love most about life right now is how close we have grown as a family. We really enjoyed visiting our family in the North West at the beginning of the month. James was given so many generous presents but what was best was introducing him to the family that we love so much. It was hard to say goodbye, though I am certainly glad that we are back home (where it currently is) and I get to enjoy spending time with my husband and son.

If life as an Air Force officer's wife has taught me anything, it's that you never know how much time you have to spend together or be in any one place. I'm happy to be where we are now with so many friends but I wouldn't mind getting back to the Western half of the country so we could see the rest of our family more often.

For our little family, we get to start traditions very soon! I'm excited to start our own family traditions with James. He was 6 months for Halloween, is 7 months for Thanksgiving and will be 8 months old at Christmas. Time sure has flow by and I am trying to capture everything I can.

Looking Cool

 James is looking cool in this train hat he got while visiting family in the NW.

Just check out this sweet little man! He's been toting around this monkey teething toy that Grandma Pam gave him.

Chicken Schnitzel and New Foods

Tonight's dinner, Chicken Schnitzel. We got the flavor perfect and just need to get the chicken thinner and add more bread crumbs next time.

James tried two new dishes today, green peas and pears. Natalie cooked the peas and Steve blended them up yesterday to eat today. Then, while Natalie was cooking lunch, Steve mashed up a Bartlett pear for James. He loved the pear. We had fun watching him eat the peas. He kept making such funny faces and then wanted more peas.

Stromboli

Stromboli for dinner tonight. It turned out perfect!

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

Tonight we had Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup for dinner. It was so delicious. It tasted like a liquified loaded baked potato!

The Latest Skills

James sitting in his pack and play in the living room. He loves his Scout. He has just recently learned how to push the tummy in order to make the sounds come out.

Here James is feeding himself sweet potatoes. He can't quite get the part down of scooping food from the bowl but he sure knows where the spoon full of food goes, in the mouth!

Pomegranates

Today we had an adventure in food. We picked up some pomegranates and decided to figure them out. We got all of these pomegranate seeds from one pomegranate! We never knew it would taste so amazing.

Here is a shot of how James looks when Dad feeds him.

This is our sweet growing boy sitting up on our bed. Every evening we make sure there is some Daddy and Baby bonding time where they play, giggle, and have fun all around.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

I picked up the dogs from St. Francis Pet Resort this morning and now our whole family is finally home. We had so much fun visiting family in the North West but I'm happy to be back to a slower pace.

Pasture Bedtime

James fell asleep on the plane ride home. We love his shirt. It says "It's Pasture Bedtime" with a cow on it. Courtesy of Steve's friends from Ohio.

 

Here is what James was looking like earlier in the day when we headed to the airport. Everyone loves this hat given to him from Lee and Alan, friends of Teresa.

 

Deer, Games, and Pizza

 Today James was fed by Grandma Pam. This bib says "Poop Happens". He was given a lot of fun bibs from Great Grandma Lee and Great Grandpa Rick. Some of the other bibs say "What Mess?", "Food In, Poop Out" and other funny things.

Behind the tree is a very large deer on Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick's property. Daddy got a better picture of it but it's stuck on his phone.

Here is Rick and Steve playing a friendly game of cards.

James is hanging out on the floor playing with a few of Steve's old toys.

A shot from Steve's baby book. We can figure out if James is more like mommy or daddy for his milestones.

We went out to dinner with Rick and Pam and Alex. Here is James with his Uncle Alex at the pizza place.

Meeting Great Grandma Sue

  Today is another big day.  We start the day off with James playing with his Grandpa Dave.

It looks like Lavita wants to say "Hi"

And Dottie wants to say "Hi" as well. Dottie is Dave and Teresa's Blind dog.

Natalie harvested an egg and a carrot! The carrot was delicious.

This is a short and fat carrot from Teresa's garden.

Here James sits on his Great Grandma Sue's lap with Natalie beside them. James met Grandma Sue for the first time today.

Here are a few great shots of James and Great Grandma Sue.

Grandma Sue gave James a Pendleton bear. We just love the textures in the blanket.

Natalie, Dave, James and Grandma Sue. Here are 4 generations down the blood line.

Steve, Natalie, James and Grandma Sue.

This is a present that Grandma Sue's kids all went in on together for Christmas. There are so many memories and stories attached to everything here. Even I don't know every story but I know a lot of them. It was great to see this since even though I was told about it, I couldn't imagine just how awesome it really was.

We Took the Scenic Route!

 Here is James in the morning with Grandpa Dave

Saying goodbye to Andrew before he heads off to school

We've headed off to Steve's parent's house and decided to take the scenic route!

The boys raid the pantry

James is sitting in Grandpa Rick's chair waiting for him to come and play!

Cutie!

That's all the pictures that I took today. More might be added to this post, and other posts from the week in the North West as I receive them from other photographers (family members).

Portland Bound

 James is sleeping in today before a day visiting mommy's side of the family. We're heading in to Portland to do some shopping with Great Grandma Bev, Grandma Teresa, Aunt Jamie, mommy, daddy, and James.

Uncle Andrew and James playing with this toy from Pam. It laughs just like a baby!

Aunt Jamie and Grandma Teresa feed James some applesauce

Great Grandma Bev saying some last goodbyes. She had to go back home the next morning and we are going to daddy's side of the family tomorrow.