Walking Girl

Here's a great video of Brighton walking. When I say bye you can see her close her hand a little (that's her wave) and you'll hear her say her favorite word "Daddy".

Size 2 Shoes?

We just decided to go to the Grand Canyon this weekend and I'm wondering if anyone has any size 2 tennis shoes that we can either buy from you or just borrow for the weekend. Brighton had sandals (I just lost one the other day) and she has little leather shoes, but I'm looking for something a little sturdier. Anyone?

Another First

Well, it took 11 months and 1 week, but Brighton finally has her first virus. (In all seriousness, I've worried about this a lot since I almost died at 5 weeks and then again at 7 weeks because of meningitis.) Anyways, she broke out with a rash this morning so after calling pediatrics on base we went to urgent care. I wasn't too concerned about it, it's not extremely red and it doesn't bother her at all, but it did get a little worse, so we went. It turns out she has Roseola Infantum - sudden rash. The doc says that it starts with fever (she had one on Monday, I thought it was just teething) and then a sudden rash appears and then a few days later, it goes away. So, here we are with the rash (the pictures don't really do it justice) and so now we can record it in her baby book as her first real, bonafide illness.

Addiction

Well, we thought we were teething (turns out it was something else, see above) and so we've been completely addicted to baby orajel!

Denim & Diamonds

Squardon Commander's wife Kelly & me

The Wing Commander got put in jail

Mary Bowman & me

This weekend Tom & I went to the Luke Officers Spouses Club charity auction Denim & Diamonds. After having done the auction for 3 years at Vance, I was really curious to see how it would be at a bigger base. A lot of things were really similar and I took a few mental notes for the next time I take on such a huge event! We had tons of fun. We didn't really bid on anything, but it was still a fun night.

Another New Trick

Tom's favorite thing to do is teach Brighton new tricks that she then tries while he's gone and Mommy's not paying close enough attention. Here's his latest lesson.

Another goodie

Chicken Spinach Lasagna
1 (10oz) pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/3 cup chopped onion
1 Tbs cornstarch

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 Tbs soy sauce
1 (10oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream

1 (4½oz) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1/3 cup mayonnaise

6 lasagna noodles, cooked

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine spinach, chicken, cheddar cheese, onion, cornstarch, salt, pepper, soy sauce, soup, sour cream, mushrooms, and mayonnaise. Put a layer of noodles in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Spread half of the spinach mixture over noodles. Place another layer of noodles on top and cover with the remaining spinach mixture. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, then pecans on top, and bake for 1 hour. Serves 12.

Note: I didn’t have frozen spinach but I did have a bag of baby spinach and I used that – it worked out fine.

Finally!!

Brighton's been dipping her face in the water for a few weeks but I could never get it on video. I swear, whenever she sees the camera she just looks at us like, "What? I'm not doing anything."

Jambalaya

So, I had another one of those weird cravings, and this time it was for jambalaya. I'd never made it before and so I looked for a recipe and decided to give it a try. Well, I found two, but each had problems. Problems meaning that one used instant rice (which Tom hates) and the other used preseasoned frozen vegetables (which Tom also hates). Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but the man is picky. To be fair, he's only this picky in his own home. If we go somewhere, he'll eat anything except beets. Anyways, I digress. So, neither really gave me what I wanted, so I decided to be daring and just try a combo of the two. Which, in retrospect, really wasn't all that daring, just a little complicated at first. Luckily, it all worked out and came together nicely. It was definitely spicy to me, which means just right for Tom and too spicy for most people. Why am I telling you all this? Because I decided that I was going to share the products of my labors. Really, this has been one of the fews recipes of late that I've tried and have been pleased with the results. Enough to actually make it again AND share it with others. Wow, I'm wordy tonight, I should really go to bed. Without further adieu:

My Jambalaya
1 Tbs oil
1 lb or so andouille sausage (I like Chef Bruce Aidells Cajun Style Andouille)
1 green pepper, chopped
½ onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 14.5oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 32oz carton chicken broth
2 cups rice (not instant)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Sauté the sausage in the oil until light brown. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Sauté the green pepper, onion, celery, green onions and garlic in the reserved drippings until the onion is tender. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 18 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Note: This was really spicy, which we loved. If making for kids, consider omitting the cayenne pepper and using regular andouille sausage, not Cajun style.

Tolmachoff Farm

On Saturday we went to Tolmachoff Farm (Farms?). Anyways, one of the interesting things about being in a bigger city is how things are different from a small town. For example, in Enid one of the local churches does a pumpkin patch each year, entrance is free and the pumpkins start at 50 cents. In Phoenix, there's a pumpkin patch that costs $7 to get in and the pumpkins start at $3. Now, this place also has a corn maze, corn cannon, play area, train and so forth, so you're really paying for those other things. But when there are a handful of you, $7 adds up. And let's be honest, if you're the adult, you wouldn't really be participating in any of those things if you didn't have kids. So, we paid $14 to walk through a corn maze and to take a couple pictures with Brighton and some pumpkins. Oh well, I guess that's one of the things you just accept as a parent. Don't get me wrong though, we still had fun!

Here's my sister Krystal before I took her to the airport on Sunday.

First Steps

Brighton's been walking for awhile now - if you hold her hands. But yesterday she started walking on her own, without coaxing. She still only goes about 3 steps before she sits down, but I'm sure she'll get more daring as the week goes on.

Free Handbag

Okay, I didn't want to tell you about this cause I wanted to keep the chances low (or at least try to) but Becca told me about this site and so I signed up and now I'm telling you about it. Try it out. It won't hurt, I promise. It's from a place called Handbag Planet. They are giving out a handbag every hour for 24 hours on the day they open. I hope I win. And if I don't, I hope you do!!

Just click on the link:http://www.handbagplanet.com/choose a super cute handbag, and hope you win!

Helping Mommy

Brighton likes to help Mommy bake cookies. We were baking cookies for Uncle Josh whose birthday was on Sunday (I know, I'm running a little behind).

Climbing at Jack's Canyon

Saturday we went up to Jack's Canyon to do some climbing with our friends Kyle & Mandy. The morning started out great, it was a cool 60-65 and mostly clear skies. But by 1, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain, so we had to quickly hike it outta there and get back to our cars. It was still a blast!!

Mmm, jerky! Mandy gave me my first taste of beef jerky.

Yeah, that's me.

Me again

Kyle & Mandy

This is my new favorite face to make at Mommy and Daddy.

Mandy

Can you believe how green it is? I swear we stayed in Arizona!

Tom

Kyle

I love the colors of this sunset!

My Love Sac Now

Where is Brighton?
Oh, there she is!

Daddy thinks the Love Sac is his - but it's not. It's mine. End of story.

TAG: MY QUIRKS

List 6 quirks and tag 6 friends

1. When I scrapbook, I always scrapbook an even amount of pages. If there are only 2 pictures of an event, I will stretch it out so they cover two pages so everything's even.

2. Other things have to be even too - my last squadron gave each of the wives coffee mugs with our emblem on them and I asked if I could have 2 so that I had a pair, not just one.

3. When going out to dinner, no one can order the same thing. You can't try different stuff if everyone gets the same plate.

4. Rarely can I do anything in complete silence - either the radio or tv have to be on. Unless Brighton's had a rough day and is finally napping, then I have everything off and lay still to savor the moment.

5. If I'm running (and that's a big if) I either have to run for a mile, mile & a half, or 2 miles, nothing in between (goes back to that even thing - 1, 1.50, 2). I know, I don't run far at all, but oh well.

6. My expressions give me away. If I think something's retarded or dumb, I have a hard time lying about it cause my face says it all.

Ok, that was really hard to list 6 quirks! I know I have a ton but none came to mind. I'm sure y'all could easily list 6 of my quirks, especially my sisters and those of you I lived with for 2 years!

I tag Becca, Shaina, Janelle, Tina, Camille and Melanie