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6/29/11

4 months

Kara is 4 months old! I seriously can not believe how fast she is changing! She seems to learn something new everyday. Her personality is really starting to come out now. She loves being around people and hates to be left alone. Anytime one of us walks into the room she perks up and smiles really big!


She can sit up now with a little support, chews on her fingers all the time, and loves to blow raspberries!



I love her big blue eyes! and those chubby cheeks :)


Kara loves playing under her little gym, she pulls down on the toys so hard trying to get them to her mouth. She scoots all around on her back pushing off with her feet. And she is quite the giggler!
Her big sister makes her laugh all the time!

 I love you Kara Mae! Happy 4 month Birthday!


6/27/11

baby giggles

A lot happened this weekend.
Thursday night we took the girls to a kids program (called Off the Hook) at our church. It was a really cute play about how we should forgive others like God forgives us: For Real, For Free, Forever! :) My in-laws also drove into town that night to spend a few days with us.


Friday for lunch we grilled out hamburgers and potatoes and I made baked beans. I followed this recipe from The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/08/the-best-baked-beans-ever/ and they really were the best baked beans ever! Super easy and very tasty!
The remainer of the day my mother in law helped me clean the house for a showing we had that night. (We have had our house up for sale for over 6 months now. We would like to move closer back to Missouri at some point and want the freedom to do so whenever the right job comes available.) Our realtor called later that night and said the people wanted to see the house again Saturday afternoon. Then Saturday night they made us an offer on the house and after a little negotiating back and forth, we finally have a contract to sell our house!


Part of the contract called for us to fix the fence on our property, it has been leaning since we bought the house two years ago. There are a bunch of trees and bushes next to the fence that have been growing over the fence and pulling it down. So after church on Sunday Jack and his dad spent the afternoon fixing the fence. It is now standing pretty and as good as new!
Jack took a little break from working on the fence sunday night to take me out on a date for our anniversary. We wanted to go somewhere casual where we could just relax and talk so we chose Red Robin :) We are a burger and fries kind of couple!  And it was perfect just to get away for a couple hours by ourselves! We hardly ever go out on dates, and need to make a point to do this a lot more often because we like each other :)

Here is some little baby giggles from tonight...sorry if the mommy/baby talk is over the top. I'll do anything to make my girls laugh! :)


6/22/11

Let's Pretend

All Kirsten wants to do lately is play pretend. She has a great imagination and loves to pretend everything!


Through out the course of a day she is a doctor, a mommy, a baby, a cook, a bride, a princess, a dancer, and many other things. We play "check out" over and over again, which means pretending to buy things and then check them out like at a store.


We go on airplane rides, and take trips to grandma's house. We have tea parties, and picnics. She drives her mini coup to "sonic" and to get mommy a cherry coke :)


She is so particular too. Even in her imaginative play everything has a specific place and  correct way to be done. She is so much fun! I love when she says "Mommy, I want to play with you!" I hope she never outgrows that!




How about dessert for breakfast?  Chocolate Covered Banana Oatmeal!



Cook 1/2 oats and 1 cup water in microwave on medium power for about 2 minutes. Add a little milk to make it the right consistency, then stir in 1/2 a chopped banana and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. Yummy!

6/20/11

One of our favorites

I haven't been making this dish long but it has quickly become one of our favorite dinners. It's super simple, and has TONS of flavor!

I first set out to make Chicken Piccata because Jack tried it at the Cheesecake Factory and loved it!

Now, I'm definitely not claiming this to be equal to that of the beloved Factory but it's pretty darn good!
The recipe that I use comes from another blog that I follow: http://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/


Chicken Piccata
4 chicken breasts, pounded down until they are 1/4 inch thick
1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c white wine
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp parsley
1 large garlic clove, pressed
2 Tbsp capers

Combine flour, salt and pepper in dish.  Add 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil to skillet over medium.  Dredge pounded chicken pieces in flour mixture, and cook 3 minutes on each side in skillet until golden brown.  Remove the chicken, and keep it warm (under a tinfoil tent).  Add 1 Tbsp butter, wine, lemon, garlic, parsley and capers to skillet.  Stir until warm. Once the sauce has warmed up, either spoon over chicken, or, like I did, stick the chicken back in the skillet and then serve.

I wasn't able to pound out my chicken breasts as much as I should have for 2 reason:
1) I don't have a meat mallet, instead I was using the side of a can of fruit. lol!
2) I didn't want to wake my sleeping baby :)

No big deal though, they just take a few more minutes to cook if you leave them thicker.

The KEY ingredients for AWESOME flavor!


On the side we had angel hair pasta and roasted green beans



Toss frozen or fresh green beans in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
 Cook at 425 for about 15 minutes.




What's one of your favorite dishes to make?

6/19/11

This Weeks Eats

Monday:
Chicken Piccata, Angel Hair Pasta, Peas

Tuesday:
Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Wednesday:
Shredded BBQ Chicken Wraps, Fresh Veggies, Grapes

Thursday:
Baked Salmon, Brown Rice, Broccoli/Cauliflower

Friday:
Cookout - Burgers, Grilled Potatoes, Baked Beans

Stories and Snow Cones

One of my favorite parts of the day with my girls is storytime. We have always read Kirsten a couple stories before naptime and bedtime, and now Kara gets to join in too :) Kirsten of course has her favorite books that get read over and over again. It's to the point now that she "reads" some of the stories to me because she has them memorized!





We made snow cones this afternoon! Kirsten calls them ice cones :) I think that would be a more proper for them name anyway!



She was VERY excited!!!!


Yummy!

6/17/11

Kara Mae: the day she was born

Right after Kirsten was born (while we were still in the hospital) we wrote out the story of her birth, and I just realized we never did the same for Kara yet :(  Things are a little crazier/busier with the 2nd one.

Here is the birth story of our darling Kara Mae.

At 3:30am Monday morning  (Feb 26th) two days before my official due date, my water broke. I wasn't even sure that was what happened at first (because apparently it is pretty rare for your water to break before labor unlike what we see on TV) so I was skeptical. I decided to see if I was going to start having contractions before rushing to the hospital. I knew if I went they would want to start inducing labor, and I wanted labor to go as naturally as possible.  Well, by 8:00am nothing was happening so I called the hospital to see what I should do. They of course told me that since my water broke I needed to get there right away.

Our neighbors got Kirsten and took her to preschool and offered to keep her until my parents got into town. Who Kirsten would stay with when I was at the hospital and how she would handle it really worried me. I am so thankful we have such awesome neighbors, so I knew Kirsten was in good hands.

We got to the hospital around 9:30am. Dr. O'nan said she was okay with waiting a few hours to see if labor would start on its own before starting pitocin. By 12:30 nothing was happening so we had to start inducing labor. I was a little scared of inducing because it can increase the chance of c-section, and other medical intervention, but since my water had broke we couldn't wait. The hours kept passing and they kept uping the pitocin but still nothing. Daddy went to pick up Kirsten and bring her to the hospital so I could see her before she went to bed. She hung out with us there for an hour or so and ate some chick-fil-a. She was such a good girl all day and kept telling everyone that her mommy went to get the baby out of her belly! I kissed her goodnight and told her she would come back in the morning with Nana and Papa to see baby sister.



Finally around 7pm my contractions were becoming stronger and regular. By 8:30 they were really painful (i remember what time it was because I was trying to watch the Bachelor :) I knew we were finally getting closer. With Kirsten I went into labor naturally so I didn't experience pitocin contractions, but I  found out everyone is right when they say contractions are much more severe when induced. Those last couple hours were ROUGH!!! I am so glad I stuck it out though! Being able to feel everything happen was awesome and empowering!

By about 10:40 I told Jack to get the Doctor, I felt it was time to push. One of the nurses checked me and said I wasn't quite to 10cm yet, and to try to make it through one more contraction first. Ahh! So I did but the pressure was so intense, my body was going to get her out whether I pushed along or not! Dr. O'nan came in then and said if I felt it was time, then let's do this! She didn't make me wait to get the bed set up or anything. I LOVED that she trusted me and my body! I pushed through 3 contractions and at 10:57pm February 28th Kara Mae Defreitas was born :) She was 8lbs 10ounces and 21 inches, almost the exact same size as her sister!




While I definitely became attached to my little girl while I was pregnant, I still wondered how it would be possible to love another child with as much love as I had for Kirsten. As soon as I had Kara and she was placed in my arms I was totally and completely in LOVE! The love a mom has for her children is an amazing kind of love only God could have crafted, and now for me it was a love times two!!!

6/15/11

looking back...

Last night I was looking through a bunch of our old pictures on the computer because I need a haircut again and wanted to see if there were any pictures of one I had in the past that I loved. Well, this turned into me reminiscing a lot!


It made me miss (a little bit) the days where it was just me and my hubby. Being able to sleep in, talk to each other without interruptions, the freedom to go and do anything we wanted, my pre-baby body : )


Colorado - the summer we got engaged!

In our first house

In our second house shortly before my first pregnancy.


But then I saw these pictures...







I can't believe how much life has changed for me in the past few years,  but I wouldn't change a thing!  I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who loves me even when I am grumpy and two of the most beautiful, precious girls in the world! My heart just keeps growing with LOVE for my little family!

6/10/11

New Recipe and Car Chaos

I tried out a new recipe this week that we really enjoyed so I thought I would share it here. I followed this recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/black-bean-salad-recipe/index.html but made a few changes to use what I had on hand. I also scaled down the recipe so we would have a ton leftover since it was just the two of us eating it. Here's what I did.

Black Bean Salad

1 can black beans (drained, rinsed)
8 ounces frozen corn (thawed by rinsing under water for a few seconds)
1 tomato (seeded, chopped)
1/8 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced pineapple (I used canned but fresh would be even better)
1/2 Tb cilantro leaves
1 Jalepeno (seeded, minced)
2 Tb Balsalmic vinegar
1.5 Tb Honey
Squeeze of lime juice
salt
pepper
pinch of cumin

* Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for 1 hour.


I served this alongside grilled salmon fillets brushed with olive oil and seasoned with Creole seasoning. We loved it!


If you have never tried this stuff you should! We use it on everything: chicken, fish, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, vegetables. It gives everything a little extra kick!


So tonight Jack had to go watch some basketball games for recruiting. I wanted to get out of the house so I decided to take the girls to Target to go shopping. Maybe not the best decision on my part as this is the chaos that ensued on the way home.

Immediatly after getting in the car....

Kara: waa! waa!
Me: It's okay Kara we'll be home soon. (then I turn on some of Kirsten's kiddie songs)
Kirsten: Mom? Did you turn the music on for me or Kara?
Me: It's for both of you honey.
Kara: Waaa!! Waa!
Kirsten: Mommy...I really need to pee!!!
Me: You're going to have to hold it honey, we'll be home soon.
Kara: WAAA!!!
Kirsten: I ca't hold it mom, I really need to GO!!!!!
Me: you can do it Kirsten, just listen to your music.
Kara: WAAAAA!!!! WAAAA!!!
Kirsten: I can't because Kara's crying!
Me: (i turn the music off)
Kirsten: I wanna listen to MY MUSIC!
Me: You said you couldn't hear it.
Kara: WAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kirsten: I really really need to PEEEE!!!!!!!!!
Me: We're almost home honey...you can hold it, just think about something else.
Kara: Waaa!! WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Kirsten: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....
Kara: WAAAAA!
Kirsten: Kara, stop crying I am trying to sing!

By this point I have zoned them both out and am dreaming about bedtime! Why I ever thought leaving the house was a good idea, I will never know.

6/9/11

beauty school drop out

Kirsten has been needing a hair cut for awhile now, but I have been putting it off. Not because I was afraid to cut her "baby" hair, but because I do not like paying for hair cuts. For this reason I have been cutting Jack's hair for several years now and I usually only get my hair cut once every 6 months to a year when I can have my sister do it. You can call me cheap, but that's how we roll :)

Anyway, I decided last night that I would try to cut Kirsten's hair myself too. I figured if I happened to screw it up I could always take her to the salon to get it fixed. I went online and read a couple of tutorials on how to cut girls hair,  it seemed simple enough, so then this morning I did it! It probably took me 3 times as long as a professional but I am really happy with the results! And woohoo for saving 20 bucks!


Here she is before...



and After!






Random Trivia: What movie features the song that is the title of this post?

6/8/11

I want Mommy!

I can always tell when Kirsten has done something she knows she is not supposed to do, like pee her pants or spill or break something.  She gets this worried innocent look on her face and says "I want mommy" in a shy voice. Today we went to lunch at Penn Station Subs (sidenote: they have the best fries ever!) and I brought her lunch along with us. While we were eating she starting saying "I want mommy" when I was sitting right beside her but I couldn't figure out why until we started to leave. I looked under the table and there were all her apples on the floor! She has never done this before! Here I was thinking she did a great job eating her food, but no she had been dropping them on the floor instead! Where do kids learn this!!! I mean you see it in commercials but come on! Maybe Kirsten has seen those commmercials, yeah that's it, I will blame it on TV :)

6/6/11

Babies and Bills



I spent my morning playing outside and blowing bubbles with this goofy girl....



and cuddling this cutie :)



Now it's naptime...So with a couple of these...


and some of this to help me through.


It's time for a lot of this :( 



6/5/11

This Week's Eats

Monday:
Pineapple Chicken with Brown Rice and Peas

Tuesday:
Mini BBQ Meatloaves, Mashed Potatoes, Corn

Wednesday:
Grilled Salmon, Black Bean Salad

Thursday:
Spaghetti, Roasted Green Beans

Friday:
Italian Grilled Chicken, Parmesan Grilled Potatoes, Steamed Mixed Veggies

6/4/11

Summer Salad

Last night for dinner I was in the mood for something light and summery so I put together this supper simple chicken salad.

Chopped romaine, baby spinach, mandarin oranges, green pepper (just on mine, the hubbs isn't found of peppers), sliced almonds, and grilled chicken.
For the dressing I mixed together EVOO, white vinegar, a couple teaspoons of both white and brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, and a little S+P.

We LOVED this salad, it was super quick to throw together and very yummy!

Kirsten hasn't learned to like lettuce yet :) So she had some of the oranges, a scrambled egg, and a slice of toast.

After dinner we ran out to WM to buy this:

We got it all set up this morning and took a quick swim with the girls before naptime. YAY!!! I love summer! I am not looking forward to our next water bill however :(  but being able to be outside in this 90 degree whether we have been having will be worth it!

This morning before we started working on the pool I got out and went for a quick 2 mile run around our neighborhood.  I love running but it has been slow going getting back into it after having Kara. There are some big hills on my route that I usually have to stop to walk for a bit, but today I told myself I would RUN the entire time. So I pushed through and shaved 25sec off my time from my previous run! Wahoo!