More peas please?

Maybe not.

All his ducks are in a row

Carter has been on a roll lately. I know nobody will ever find these little things as interesting as his own mom, but I thought I would share.

*Carter started calling Andi "Moo moo," which is her nickname that Jefferson and I call her. It is so cute the way he says it.

*I was reading a book that many of you are probably familiar with from the dollar spot at Target, "Cookie Monster's guessing game about food," or something along those lines. I was asking Carter to point out food that was on that page, carrots, apple, pizza, etc. When we got to the cookie he points to the cookie, yelling "cookie!" and then leans over, licks the page and says, "mmmmmmmm."

*Carter was playing in my closet yesterday and I went in after he had left and he had taken off his shoes and lined them up on the shelf with mine. It just cracked me up to see his little shoes next to mine.

*We ordered a bunch of stuff from the Children's place and had left the box in the living room. It wasn't long before Carter was wearing Andi's church shoes for next winter and had her headband on. The poor boy! I just had to laugh. It was especially funny because all he wanted to do was walk around the kitchen floor where the shoes clicked. I think we need to go throw some stuff or play in the mud or something.

*Now, onto the story that goes along with the pictures... Carter was in the bath for an hour two nights ago. Yes- an hour! He cried every time I tried to get him to come out. He was busy lining his ducks up and then knocking them off the side of the bathtub. He probably did this about twenty times. As you can see, he is quite proud that he has his ducks all in a row... it's more than his mom can say!

Wonder of wonders...

A MIRACLE!!! Carter stayed in nursery the whole time without crying!! I am sure this does not mean that it will be a cake walk from here on out, but he had a good experience to build on, and we know it can be done. I took the advice of my dear friend Robyn, who was a preschool teacher for a few years. I took Carter in after opening exercise in primary, that way nursery wasn't quite so long. I told him I would sit with him for five minutes, but then that "mommy had to go to class, but would be back in a little over an hour to get him." I know he doesn't understand time, or everything that I'm saying, but I think he got the gist of it. I stayed for five minutes in there with him, said goodbye and that I would be back in a little bit for him. I checked on him after a half hour (just through the window) and he was on the floor playing. My heart was singing! I just wanted to run in there and give the boy a hug, which I didn't, because I knew that would be counterproductive. I had to pry him out of the playhouse when I went to pick him up after church. It's a sabbath day miracle!

Heavenly treat

We started holding FHE with Carter. We thought it was appropriate to go out for the Celestial dessert to commemorate our first real family FHE... soft serve vanilla ice cream!

Go green

So I am not a tree hugger by any means, but one thing we are going to try to do this year is go green, both to reduce our carbon footprint and save a little green. A few things we are doing that are so simple are:

-Jefferson is riding the bus (it only tags on about ten minutes of travel time)

-I have a "no drive day" once a week

-We are going to be more diligent about recycling

-Bundle errands so we hit all our stops on one trip out and about

-Turning our thermostat down a few degrees

-And a few other little things like buying in season produce, do all the laundry back to back (less energy to heat up the dryer every time), etc...

Cafe Rio

I have had some requests to put this recipe on my blog. It is so delicious and tastes exactly like the real deal (well, it has been a year since I've had the real stuff, but so far as I can remember).

Cafe Rio Pork:
pork roast
1 bottle honey bbq sauce
1 tbsp. honey
1 liter of coke

*Place ingredients in crock pot and cook on low all night. In the morning shred the roast and leave in crock pot with juice on low. (i just did mine for 4-5 hours during the day and it turned out great)

Lime rice:
saute in pan:
2 tbsp butter
1 yellow onion chopped
4 cloves garlic
in large pot bring to boil:
6 2/3 cup water
8 tsp. chicken bullion
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
2 tsp cumin
2 small cans diced green chilis
1 tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt

*add onion and garlic to boiling water. Add 3 cups long grain rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes

Pico de Gallo:
4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1/4 bunch chopped cilantro
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

*combine all and serve chilled

Tomatillo dressing:
1 pkg hidden valley buttermilk ranch dressing dry mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tomatillos, peeled
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp lime juice
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeds removed

*blend all together until smooth, keep chilled

Serve on Costco's uncooked tortillas (cooked, of course! those are the best, but really any tortilla works) with Cotija cheese (that cheese is key, however, if you can't find it, feta is a good alternative)

There's nothing he can't do

This boy is amazing and continues to learn new tricks every day. Nothing is safe or baby proof anymore in our house. He can open any door, regardless of what kind of handle (ok, the safety ones still manage to be a little tricky for him), he can undo locks, including the deadbolt, he climbs onto everything, he can turn on all the faucets and the shower, he opens the fridge, the dishwasher, cabinets, drawers, he knows how to turn on our piano keyboard, how to work the microwave and the vcr (luckily our vcr has a safety feature where you have to have the remote to work the thing). He is starting to use small sentences. He is learning colors and we're trying to get the ABC's going. He still loves playing with stuffed animals and will wrap them up in blankets and put them in Andi's bassinet. His favorite toy is his tee pee and his giraffe/horse, Lasso.

Christmas keeps on giving:

Can you believe this teepee my mom made for Carter?! It's amazing! Carter practically lives in it... it's big enough!

My indulgence...

= happy