Spring in January

One of the perks of living in Arizona is that Spring starts "springing" up as early as January.

We took the beautiful weather as a sign that we should go to the park and enjoy it while it lasted, which was wise considering it is cold and rainy now. 

I (tried to) read my book while Eli wedged himself between the book and me and proceeded to eat my snacks. Clearly he was enjoying them too... little nut. 

Eventually he went back to playing, but not for long once he realized how much more there was to explore besides our blanket on the grass. 

So we headed over to the swings, which was obviously a big hit. Pure joy right there!

As much as I love cold weather (no really, I do!), I'm itching for longer days and warmer weather and for the January blues to be over and done.

Easy Chicken Curry

We are major curry fans around here. This recipe is from an uncle of mine who lived in Thailand, and it is seriously delicious and so easy to make! It's a staple at our house, and I hope you love it as much as we do!

Yellow Curry with Chicken

Cook/prep time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 can coconut milk

2-3 tablespoons of Mae Ploy yellow curry paste (I buy mine here on Amazon, and I'm sure you could find it in some Asian markets too)

Around 1 cup of chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks (I cut and freeze large batches of raw chicken at a time which makes this really easy!)

1 potato, chopped into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)

Rice (I like to use jasmine. Make sure you start cooking this before you begin making the curry!)

Instructions:

Spoon the cream off the top of the can of coconut milk and place into a medium saucepan. Add curry paste and mix until it is thoroughly combined with no lumps. Heat for a minute or two on medium, then add chicken. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside. Add the rest of the can of coconut milk, the potato, and the onion. Return to a boil and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Add fish oil, if desired. I have made it without and it turned out just fine, but it does add a little bit of flavor, and doesn’t make it taste fishy. Serve over rice. 

Eli Thursday

48 weeks

I've started bathing Eli almost every night. It's partially for fun, and partially because this little boy is already turning into a dirt magnet. 

Annnnd it's also partially because his little baby self is so darn cute, especially when he's trying to figure out what's going on with the bubbles on his toesies. 

Currently...

Loving: This beautiful warm weather. It feels like Spring here and I love it so very much! 

Looking forward to: The AZ blogger meet-up next month, assuming I get the guts to actually go since I hardly feel like I qualify as a "real" blogger. I'm such a wimp. 

Thankful for: Baby tylenol and ibuprofen. Last night was pretty awful with a very sad teething baby, and I don't even want to think about how bad it would have been without pain relievers. Poor kiddo.

Working on: Redecorating and rearranging and painting and reorganizing all the things. If only a certain someone would take longer naps so I could really make some progress...

Dreaming about: Plane tickets and Italy. I've got the traveling bug big time, and it doesn't help that I found tickets for all three of us to go next month for $1700. I so wish that were in the cards for us. That's such a smoking deal that it kind of makes me crazy that we can't take advantage of it. Also I should probably (definitely) stop stalking Expedia and Travelzoo, but let's be honest... that won't happen. ;)

Laughing about: This video of Eli and I reading a book last night. Such a silly goose. 



Watching: Friends. It's funny, but just makes me want to watch Seinfeld again. 

Reading: Wonder by R.J Palacio. So far so good! 

Eating: Banana and Nutella toast, all day erryday. It's on my homemade whole wheat bread so that cancels out the Nutella, right? If I'm wrong I don't want to be right. 

Eli Thursday

47 weeks

Two of his favorite pastimes combined: emptying the dirty clothes hamper, and playing peek-a-boo. 

He finds fun in everything, and it makes me so happy.

11 months

Only one more month until you are a year old! You are turning into a little boy right before my eyes, and I love seeing you grow, even though it also makes me sad. You are so much fun to have around. You keep your daddy and me laughing and we love hanging out with you every day! We think you're a pretty cool little dude.

Stats:
Around 16.5-17 lbs
Size 9-12m clothes
Size 3 diapers
6 teeth
A little more hair... but not much

New tricks:
You can stand up by yourself, but as soon as you realize you're doing it you sit down. You just aren't interested in standing or walking at all yet, probably because crawling and cruising along furniture is working out pretty well for you still.
Sleeping through the night! Hallelujah... now pleeeeease keep it up!          
You can say "more" and "mom"

Likes:
FOOD. All kinds, pretty much. Your recent favorite are mom's bread, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, veggie straws, and anything mom doesn't want to share. ;) Of course, you still love your milk too!
Playing with your cousins
Going on walks
Opening cabinets and drawers
Playing peek-a-boo
Books (eating them and reading them)
Stacking things
Bathing in the big tub
Visiting dad at work
Watching mom
Storytime at the library
Taking off your socks
Carrying things around in your mouth like a puppy

Dislikes:
Naps, which is okay as long as you keep sleeping at night!
Green beans
Carrots
Putting your brace on at night

Eli Thursday

46 weeks

Looks like he is going to be a pyro like his parents. He was completely mesmerized by these sparklers. 

Eli Thursday

45 weeks

They were getting a little stir-crazy today, so I squished Eli and cousin Levi in the stroller and took a little field trip to get the mail. There was much giggling and no eye gouging, so I'd say it was a smashing success! 

Decked Halls

I took down all the Christmas decorations today. It's a heck of a lot more fun putting them up, that's for sure. I thought I'd post some pictures of what Christmas looks like around here 

^^ I have 6 of these ornaments that I bought in Russia, and they are my favorite Christmas decoration. I probably love them more than I should.

^^ The presents that looked like a 5-year-old wrapped them were done by me. Not my talent, and I'm okay with that.

^^ Fun with bokeh! 

Eli loved playing with this Little People nativity I bought. I can't wait until baby Jesus is more meaningful to him that a chew toy. Haha. ;)

^^ I keep this one up all year long.

^^ I've always loved this style of wreath, so this year I decided to make my own. All the clippings are from my yard, and I used this frame. It was so easy and I love how it turned out! Gonna have to make this a yearly tradition. 

I'm dreaming of a white... New Year?

We may not have had a white Christmas, but a white New Year is the next best thing, right? We got hit with a pretty good storm and it was so nice to hunker down in our cozy, warm home for a few days, especially since Dallin didn't have to work on New Years Day or the afternoon of New Years Eve. It's all pretty much melted now, but I sure loved it while it lasted. These are just a few of the many pictures I took from our windows (my telephoto lens helped with some of these). 

Eli Thursday

 44 weeks

We introduced Eli to snow. He was not impressed.