Addy's reaction to telling her "No!"

So the other night, Addy was banging her head as usual against the highchair. My mom mimicked her and started telling her "no" and she CRACKED UP! I have never seen her laugh this hard ever...it was hysterical!! It's long so I don't expect anyone to watch the whole thing...but she does laugh harder as it goes along:) Kids are the best!!

Code for Free Movie Rental today at Redbox

For those of you that love Redbox...I found on their website they have a link to Redblog where they post a code for free wednesday movie rentals! If you've given them your e-mail you'll also know they text you a free Monday movie rental code as well...so 2 free movies each week..not too shabby!!! :) Anyway, the code for today is MMM325!

Weekly Recipe

So apparently I'm not able to stick with doing the "Try it Tuesday"..so it's now just a weekly recipe:)

All-Bran Muffins
I LOOOOOVE these muffins..and the best part is that they're very healthy!

1 1/4 c flour.. I use wheat flour to make them healthier
1/2 c sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 c All Bran cereal
1 1/4 c milk
1 egg
1/4 c veg oil

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. set aside.
In large bowl, combine all bran cereal and milk. Let stand about 5 min or until cereal has soaked up milk and softened. Add egg and oil. Beat well. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. grease your muffin pan...(we use the smaller ones)...and bake at 400 about 15-18 minutes...don't let them brown otherwise they're dry. ENJOY!

Survive and Thrive in Family Scripture Study

This past Saturday was a "Home and Family Conference" up at BYU-Idaho. I am soooo grateful that my mom had me go with her. It is similar to Education Week that they have up there in July which everyone should go to if they get the chance! Anyway, they had a bunch of different classes and I really want to share my notes throughout the week from the ones that I attended. The spirit was SO strong up there and I really ended up in the classes that I need at this time in my life. Some I had circled and when I went to them they were full so I'd end up in another and I know it happened for a reason. I am still feeling the spirit from these classes and am sitting down with Chris tonight (he doesn't know this yet:)) for FHE to talk about what changes need to happen in our lives and what we need to be doing better at. My favorite class was the topic of this post. I have to admit, I'm not too great at scripture study. If I do happen to read before bed, I really don't get much out of it because I'm so tired. So this class really hit home with me especially now that we have a daughter. I want to share what I learned and hopefully it will impact someone out there to be better at Family Scripture Study.
Marion G Romney:
“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.”
I can't think of a greater blessing to have in our lives. I think sometimes we underestimate the power of daily scripture study and the impact it can have in our homes. Have you ever noticed that when we get in ruts we become more irritated and annoyed with our spouses/kids? Just in general our attitude changes and when we step back and look at our lives we realize what we have stopped doing spiritually. The teacher had 8 kids in 7 years and one of my favorite things she said was, " I'm not a good enough parent/spouse to NOT have the power with me that scripture study brings." We just can't raise these children alone. We need the power that it brings to our homes. She talked about Lehi's dream and that the Iron Rod is only one thing....it's the Word of God. We can talk about and show our children the Iron Rod, and show them the tree of life at the end. But would you teach your child a language and not have them read in that language?? NO!! It's the same thing..we need to act on what we teach. Unless we have had that daily scripture study as a family and allowed their hearts to be stirred, plant that seed, let the power of the spirit take hold...only then can they follow it. We want them to reach the tree of life and it's up to us to take them to the Iron Rod each day.
She talked about how you need to be doing it no matter the age of the children. Even when they're babies they can feel the spirit and as they get older, it's also the best book you can have them start to read from. With her, her children are all at the stage where they're not focused and things are crazy in the morning, but no matter what....it does plant a seed, and being obedient to reading and taking time out of our crazy schedules to have that time together as a family will affect them and they DO get something out of it. She said there's many things we can do as parents, but we can't get in their hearts and stir them..only the spirit can, and that happens when we open that book and read. It doesn't have to be long, 15 minutes is what her family does each morning.
The Word of God when it is ignited with the the Power of the Spirit, will actively seek to:
*Discern our thoughts and intents
*Enlighten our understanding
*Expand our minds
*Enlarge our soul
*Heal our wounds
*Stir us up to repentance
*Lead us to do righteousness
*Divert the fiery darts of the enemy
(Alma 32 & 33, Jacob 2:8, Jarom 1:12, D&C 6:2, 1 Ne. 15:24
Then there always comes that day when something goes wrong and we all know it only takes one break to end a habit. That's when he apply Ether 12:27
“…and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
This isn't a case where we need to show our faith before we reap the blessings. In the Bible Dictionary, Grace means:
“Divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ…
[where we] receive strength and assistance to do good works [or persist in family scripture study]….
[And remember…these are works that we] otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to [our] own means.”
He will empower us from the beginning if we just ASK! It's that simple..we don't have to show our faith first to recieve blessing later..he will help us from the start! So she challenged us to go home and sit down with our family and decide a time of day, how to get everyone there etc...and stick to it. I know this is long, but it was so powerful to me and I hope that it can be for someone else as well. I know I need to be better, but I know I can't be all that I can be as a mother, wife, friend without it...so I'm committed to doing this as a little family of 3 each day.

Videos

This video is hilarious. It shows a lot of the sounds she's been doing lately..her fake cough, bear cub growl etc. I can't get enough of her noises!
This one is of her way she's found to get around...just rolling across the floor:)

I was kissing her belly..I love babies's laughs! Sorry you can't see anything, I was by myself..but it's all about the sound anyway:) This one was a couple months ago.

March

I haven't been able to upload pictures to our computer the past few weeks for some reason. My memory card is now full..and I finally just downloaded it all on my dad's laptop. Addy has been soooo much fun the past few weeks. She has mastered her way of getting around, which I finally have video of..and "talks" non-stop. She doesn't ever fuss unless she's really tired...other than that she's all smiles and giggles. It's fun to see their personality come out, which with her..she's such an observer. She studies things out, by turning whatever she's picked up in cirlces over and over. She doesn't like to put many things in her mouth, which I always figured was great, until now, since I'm trying to teach her to put her snacks in her mouth.
Chris is finishing up this semester with flying colors. He has really enjoyed being back in school and has done awesome juggling full-time work and school at night. In addition to his bronchitis last month, he got strep and then tonsilitis back to back. It was horrible! But hopefully we're over the sicknesses for at least the next year! :) We are even more excited for this summer after seeing the town and apts we'll be in. It'll be much more fun than last summer having Addy to keep me busy and so much stuff to do outside. There's a sand V-ball court, tennis courts, baseball field, pool etc in and around our complex so it'll be a blast! Here's some recent random pictures...and she is bow-less in them which is so sad, but she's learned to pull them out of her hair.

we were playing peek-a-boo..she'd scoot a little bit to look around the wall.


she's making herself laugh in the mirror


I love this one..I was holding the camera out to the side trying to get pic of us both, and it cut off me obviously..but I LOVE the look on her face


She LOVES bathtime..she'll hold herself up to the tub and peek over the edge and sqeal and start bouncing and bobbing back and forth.


In this one, I let her get a hold of her dinner for the first time. She didn't once put her hand in her mouth..she just kept rubbing her hands in circles in the stew. Then she'd squish it in her hands and shake her hand like she was trying to shake the food off and then look at it all confused. It was pretty cute:)

look at that focused face:)

Try-it Tuesday

I want to start this tradition that some of my friends do. I'm always looking for new recipes that I know have been tried and liked by friends. So on Tuesdays I'll post some of my favorite recipes. I'm late this week as it's Wednesday...but here it goes.
Stir Fried Sesame Vegetables with Rice
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil

I did a lot of switching around with this recipe. I'm lazy, so I just used a store bought bag of frozen veggies...I love the bags that have mixed beans, water chestnuts, carrots, pea pods, peppers etc. I also added cut up chicken.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan combine broth, rice and margarine. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Place sesame seeds on a small baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 5 to 6 minutes, or until golden brown; set aside. Meanwhile, heat peanut oil in a large skillet. Add asparagus, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. Stir in soy-sauce and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. Serve over rice.