BBQ Chicken Pizza Soup

Awhile back my friend Erin told me about this recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza soup.  If you weren’t aware, Brian considers himself a BBQ chicken pizza connoisseur and actually feels obligated to order it whenever he sees it on a menu. 

It sounded perfect for us, but it was summertime and by winter I’d forgot all about it. Then, on a recent Costco outing with Holly, Erica & Taran, I got swept up in the excitement  of warehouse shopping. I ended up with lots of stuff we love and use but also some totally random things like a 6 pack of canned chicken. I haven’t used canned chicken in years so that was an odd impulse buy for me.  So long story longer, I was looking for some recipes to use with canned chicken and finally remembered this one.

I’m so glad I did because this is definitely a keeper! It is really fast, super easy and even the boys will eat this one.

Donuts

I have a terrible memory.  I know many people say they have a bad memory, but my long term recollection is almost scary, near some type of dementia bad. While I don’t remember much, I do  have fond memories of making  homemade donuts as a kid. So today we pulled out a roll of biscuit dough and some cinnamon sugar and passed the tradition on.

Super simple and delicious! Why don’t we do this every weekend?!

Oh yes, that’s why. Why does fried stuff have to taste so good?

More Fun at Holly’s

Holly & Jackson hosted a playdate today for Julia, Jude, Gavin, Audrey Andrew & the boys. Like me, Holly is the lone female in her house, so the boys always love all of the cool toys there.

Last Call

I realized today that Colin has not sat in his swing for weeks. Since we really don’t need more large plastic things taking up space in our house it is time to pack it away until I find its next home. I dug out the toy bar and gave him one last ride. (Sniff, sniff.)

The plus side of all of this growing up means he is now starting to sit unassisted to play. We are in the sweet spot of infant parenting- a baby that sleeps through the night, smiles constantly, can sit up by himself, and is not yet mobile or throwing tantrums! 

Handwriting

Lucas still isn’t interested in writing at all but I’m not too concerned at this point. When Tyler was 3 he had no interest either and now he likes writing and loves learning in general. Tyler is so excited he is learning sight words at pre-k and recently asked us to teach him  how to read so he can read to himself.

At this stage, Lucas is still  more interested in playing than learning so we don’t really work with him very much.  He often sees a word that has a couple of the same letters as his name, such as lunch, and guesses incorrectly,  “L-U-C-A-S, that spells my name!”

Today Brian wrote his name for him (in yellow) and had him trace it (in green).

Remodel

Brian still remembers liking to moving the furniture around in  his room around when he was a kid. Tyler seems to have inherited many of the same personality traits Brian had as a kid, so I wasn’t overly surprised when I came downstairs and saw him dragging his play kitchen across the room.

His finished project.

Papa & Granny Re’s Birthday

The Conway family got together to celebrate Papa & Granny Re’s birthdays.

While we were celebrating the old folks (Papa likes to tell my kids that Mommy is ancient so I feel justified in saying this) the newest members of the  family got to hang out. The grabbed at each other and even held hands for a bit.

6 Months

Our baby has hit the 1/2 year mark!  We celebrated this milestone by making him a cake which he couldn’t eat.

The boys helped  but truthfully it probably wouldn’t have looked much better if I had done it all myself.  I also risked subjecting them to salmonella poisoning so they could participate in the childhood tradition of licking the beaters for the first time.

This month Colin’s first two teeth came in just before his 6 month birthday.

He also had his first introduction to solid foods. We started with brown rice cereal (12/31/11) and he was so interested and kept leaning forward for the spoon.  I think he must have liked the novelty of it more than the taste because at the next days feeding  he dribbled out more than he took in.

We moved onto carrots next (1/2/12) and it was not love at first bite. Next came peas and then applesauce. It’s taking a little time but he is slowly becoming more interested in food.

Colin’s monthly posts wouldn’t be complete without further documentation of his brothers adoration.

He is getting so much stronger but still leans on his hands when he sits and can topple at any minute.

Colin got his first ride in the swing (1/10/12) and he gave the exersaucer a second go around. I’ve also included a picture of his adorable chubby rolls since he was born with skinny little legs.

I am not sure if my boys are little daredevils because their Daddy conditions them from an early age or if it is just a boy thing. I love this second photo of Colin checking out the reflection of a cute and cuddly bear in his play gym mirror.

He still sleeps on his side or back (as you can see by his big bald spot) but he has decided to sleep on his stomach once or twice.  When he does end up on his stomach he wakes up stuck and cries out for help which is not fun for either of us. He still wakes once a night around 3:00 a.m.

Aunt Erica always tells Colin he makes every baby girl jealous with his perfect bow hair.

Colin’s 6 months appointment stats:

Height: 27 1/2” 85%

Weight: 17.1 lbs. 45%

Head 17 2/8” 50%

In his short life Colin has already proven to be a pretty lucky guy. First, has a great birthdate, 7-11-11. Then, when he was a month old I placed a small $25 order from BabyGanics (love their stuff!) and several large boxes with over $125 worth product arrived on my doorstep. When I called the company about the mix-up they were so grateful for my call (the product was intended to be a baby gift  for an important investor in the company) they let me keep it all. In this picture Colin is sitting in the free bouncy seat I scored in exchange for promising to complete a 15 minute feedback survey.

We sure feel lucky to have him!

Hopper Visits

For his birthday week Tyler was Star Student in his class at school.

  A sampling of Tyler’s answer to the Star Student poster: I am a star student because…  to which our literal Tyler answered because “ my teacher picked me”.  His other answers divulge he wants to be a policeman, he is proud of himself because he is a good worker (for coloring so much of his new cardboard house he got for his birthday), he thinks he is good at having sleepovers, and his favorite food is pizza.

As Star Student Tyler got to bring in his camera for show-n-tell, bring a book for the teacher to read to everyone, and be the class helper that week. The best part of being Star Student for Tyler was getting to bring Hopper, a stuffed frog and the class pet, home with him. He has been looking forward to his turn with Hopper for so long.

Another beautiful January day! 

Almost Famous

Tonight we told the boys we DVR’d special new show for them to watch. We even allowed Colin, who normally isn’t allowed in on the TV action, to check it out.

Instead of a regular show, it was a surprise birthday greeting for Tyler on PBS Kids Sprout TV. (If interested, you can learn more about submitting a card for your birthday boy/girl between the ages of 2-6 here.) 

The host read Tyler’s card and sent him birthday wishes from everyone in Pontypandy, home of Fireman Sam.

Afterparty

Back home, Tyler opened his gifts while I ate way too much leftover spinach dip.

He played with his toys a bit before round 2 of cupcakes.

Then it was on to my favorite part of the day, the sleepover!

Brian and I both love to sleep too much to ever let the boys sleep with us. Since it’s always been that way it doesn’t really occur to them to try since they don’t know any other way. 

It works best for our family, but I am still jealous of all of the cuddle time co-sleeping parents get.  His birthday was the perfect opportunity to have him sleep with us without setting a precedent for middle of the night visitors. Tyler is a bed hog but I still managed to get some sleep and it will definitely be a birthday tradition until he’s too cool for it.

FIVE!

Somehow the time is flying by yet it also feels like forever since Tyler fit into those itty bitty baby clothes I'm pulling out for Colin.

Here are Tyler's 5 year appointment stats:

Height: 44” 75%

Weight: 42 lbs. 55%

A little bit about Tyler at age 5:

Tyler has such a sweet smile and is a very happy kid. He's a great firstborn and is an amazing big brother. He looks out for Lucas and showers Colin with tons of attention and brings him toys and his pacifier. He is extremely empathetic and caring which makes him very generous. He is a little slow to wake up in the morning and still likes to cuddle. (Yeah!!) He is a good listener and never gets into trouble at school. He loves music and plays CD's everyday. He knows his alphabet in upper and lowercase and can write all of his letters by memory. He counts well over 100 and I've heard him counting to himself at bedtime to “practice”.

Tyler is a born leader which can sometimes make him a little bossy. He is very organized and disciplined. He is a rule follower and has a touch of OCD. Tyler loves making list and is very logical, practical, and thinks things through very maturely for his age. He “writes” lots of notes and makes lists, such as all of the places he could hide during hide and seek. He likes to organize his stuffed animals and can spend 20 minutes lining them up around his room in different ways each time. He thinks everything is a treasure and has a bit of hoarding problem. He talks with his hands constantly.

Some examples of Tyler's special personality:

He once told me how he saw “THE.GROSSEST.THING.EVER.” which turned out simply to be some kids sharing a water bottle (and germs). If his teacher forgets to update the class bulletin board for the day he will remind her. He doesn't mean it disrespectfully, it's just the logical side of him wanting things correct. He has noticed the speedometer in the car and expresses concern if it doesn't match what he sees on the speed limit signs. More than once he has dragged his laundry basket out of his room and politely asked me to do his laundry because he it is getting too full. He was excited about his recent school Christmas party but got upset when he learned it was going to be during regular school hours because “when will we do all of our learning?”. The other day told me about he was glad the only had mini cupcakes for a friends birthday because he “didn't want too have that much sugar and get a hole in my teeth.” Those are just a few of the many examples of what makes up him a unique little guy. More than once we have been told he is going to be a great leader or the President someday.

He has grown and changed so much over the past year and the year ahead will mean even more changes. He has just a little bit of babytalk left and this will probably be the year he stops saying cute little errors like fregot and regot (forgot), renect (connect), wermert (walmart), tavel (table), aerial (area), wovie (movie), straightaway (right away), beach other (each other), froggy (foggy) casadilla (cash register) I'm hopeful this is not the year he realizes he doesn't really want to marry his mommy and live with her forever. : )

It is so fun watching him grow up and we love getting to know this amazing person God blessed us with.

Happy Birthday Tyler! We love you to the moon and back.

Below, Brian's annual video for Tyler:

Untitled from Brian Rudd on Vimeo.

Tyler's 5th Birthday!

Tyler wanted to have a joint birthday party with Delaney again this year. We chose a swimming party for 24 kids at the Y. Delaney is just 2 weeks older than Tyler and she was his very first friend. They are still close and when he isn’t saying he wants to marry me she gets that honor.

Does turning 5 makes you too cool to smile for your mother?

Our super talented friend Jen B. made all of the oversized cupcakes and decorated them as in a variety of designs. We ended up with really cute turtles, octopuses, sea shells, flip flops and sandy beaches with umbrellas. They tasted as good as they looked and were filled with frosting or ganache.

Tyler isn’t shy but got embarrassed by the attention.

The beautiful birthday girl.

Lucas forgets any semblance of table manners and grabs big hunks of his cupcake and scoops them into his mouth.

Clockwise: Jackson, Tyler’s closest friend from school, and Julia snack on fish crackers; baby Emerson & Glam; Cutie Claire, who turns 5 one day after Tyler.

Clockwise: Colin plants a big one on Glammie. He gives the best big slobbery kisses.; I love this picture of Colin & Uncle Jeff checking each other out.; Papa kept Colin entertained for much of the party.

Clockwise: We had an hour in a party room before the kids swam. The room had mats stacked up in the corner and the kids loved jumping and climbing on them.; Cole with his ever present train,  Harper kept putting the moves on Lucas.

The birthday boy was happy to have a chance to swim again. We put water squirters in the party favors and they were a really big hit with the kids.

Lucas was so cold in the heated pool. He shivered the whole time but still had fun. I brought Colin’s swimsuit along but decided it wasn’t quite warm enough for his first swimming experience.

Papa & Grandma Visit

Papa & Grandma came for a visit this weekend.

Tyler & Papa had lots of fun playing video games.

The weather was nice enough to play outside and sit out back by the fire at night.

We did a little shopping and Tyler got a chance to spend the Target gift card Papa & Grandma gave him for his birthday. He went down every toy aisle but had his mind set on the Disneyland Kinect game before he set foot in the store. 

Of course, there was still plenty of time for relaxing

and sneaking in kisses.

Mild Winter

I am loving all of these 60 degree winter days!

Each time I tell the boys how lucky we are to have such a nice day and that this will be our last chance to play outside for a very long time. A few days later Mother Nature makes a liar out of me and it is back in the 60’s again. Still, no complaints here!

Our super strong Superman.

I think not having to bundle 3 kids up in heavy winter coats in January is SUPER!

Bad camera angle, but you can see it was a perfect sunshiny day.

Tyler got a chance to ride the EzyRoller Santa brought him. He picked it up right away and loved it. I can’t really describe how it works, but it looks super fun. I just may have to try it out myself.

Colin seemed to really like the breeze. He is normally covered up in his car seat when we are outside so it was a whole new world to him.

Yes Day!

We have a book called Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. We borrowed the concept and gave Tyler his first annual birthday Yes Day. When he woke up in the morning we told him it was going to be his very own special day. Whatever he wanted to do, eat, wear, etc. (within reason) we would say yes to.

Remembering Ryan’s party he immediately told us he wanted to go to “Chuck E. Cheez-its”. The great thing about his age is that we were able to steer his final decisions to what we would rather do without him catching on.

As we talked about his day, I love that his idea of getting really crazy was to suggest eating only yogurt for dinner and Yonanas (which changes frozen bananas into an ice cream consistency) for dessert.  As he gets older and wiser I am sure his Yes Day choices will be a little different.

Tyler (back row on the right) still wanted to go to his tennis lesson that was his fist Yes Day stop.

Lucas got to play with Ryan (who was on Christmas break) until his gymnastics class.

After tennis Tyler climbed the rock wall. Then it was off to eat chocolate chip pancakes at the new IHOP with the Harriss & McKey families.  Later, while Lucas & Colin napped, Daddy took Tyler out to picked out a new Kinect game.

Tyler picked Red Robin for dinner and then we went to Ryan and Julia’s house to watch The Smurf’s movie. He loved his Yes Day and has been asking when he can do it again.