Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas continued...

The three of us had our own little Christmas on Sunday in the comfort of our own home :) We had fun opening gifts again and Harper got some fun toys that I picked up for her at the consignment store. Amongst a few other gifts, we got Daddy a wind chime he has been wanting and Daddy got Mommy 2 pairs of some really nice jeans I would never buy for myself!! We also ate some really awesome pork ribs from Costco for dinner- SO good! Until next year Christmas...it was fun!



Christmas in Houston

Chris, Harper, Jack & I traveled back to Houston to celebrate Harper's First Christmas! Once again, Harper was great in the car and even napped for an hour on the way home, yeah! We enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner with all the fixins on Christmas Eve and opened presents on Christmas morning. Harper really didn't know what was going on and just played with whatever we put in front of her (including wrapping paper) while we all opened gifts! It was a wonderful Christmas but I am looking forward to next year when Harper is a little more aware of what is going on!



Thursday, December 23, 2010

Starting Christmas Traditions

One of the many things I look forward to now that Harper is in our lives are all of the fun traditions that go along with the holidays...especially Christmas!!! I think the Zilker Tree will definitely become one of those traditions as will a Trail of Lights that we will most likely explore next year! And tonight, I started another tradition, Christmas pj's!!! I gave them to her a little early this year (mostly because she doesn't know what is going on anyway) but plan in future years to give them to her on Christmas Eve, just in time to wear for Christmas morning! I will probably get more satisfaction out of these traditions for a little while but soon enough she will be able to appreciate and enjoy them too!

What's in my stocking Mommy???


Harper modeling her pj's!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Happy 11 months Harper!

Happy Birthday Chris!

It was my hubby's Birthday yesterday so I decided to make him a yummy dinner and dessert to celebrate! Chris loves this gnocchi casserole dish that I make so I decided to spice it up a bit and make another version of it...gnocchi, homemade Alfredo sauce, sauteed zucchini and turkey sausage...throw some breadcrumbs on top and throw it in the oven...it was good! I also made homemade Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing that were to die for!!! I hope my hubby had a good Birthday...Mommy and Baby Harper love him very much!!!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Crock Pot Lasagna

I recently purchased a crock pot cookbook in hopes of finding some new crock pot recipes. I was intrigued by a lasagna recipe so I decided to give it a try. I made a Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms. I was very happy with the way it turned out! I wouldn't do anything differently and you really could play around with the ingredients. Just make sure you get the no-bake/oven ready noodles. Oh, and it was done in like 3 hours versus 5 hours...ALL the recipes I do in the slow cooker have significantly less cook time then the recipe indicates, I have to wonder if I just have a crappy slow cooker? Anyway...if you are looking for a new recipe you can throw in the slow cooker this is worth a taste!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Zilker Christmas Tree

After dinner tonight we all got bundled up and headed over to see the Zilker Christmas Tree! I knew I wanted Harper to see it because it's a tree made up of thousands of lights...and Harper is all about lights lately! It was fun to see her point and look at the lights and watch all the people. Chris and I shared a bag of Kettle Corn and we all sat on the bench and enjoyed the lights for awhile. We will definitely go back next year!




Our little escape artist!




Lucky Chicks Ugly Sweater Christmas Party (that's a mouthful!)

For those of you out there that don't know this already...we call my bestest group of girlfriends the Lucky Chicks...and the LC's get together every year at Christmas and have a little party, this year we decided to have an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party and we had a blast! Kathleen graciously hosted the party at her house and we had yummy food, our gift exchange and we voted on the best sweater! And the winner went to- Tanya!!! She is now the proud owner of a Snuggie for wearing such an ugly sweater! I personally always look forward to this gathering, it really gives us all a chance to spend the evening together catching up and just enjoying our friendships!


Kathleen, our host!


Tanya, Carrie & Steph


Tanya- the ugly sweater winner!


My ugly sweater- thanks Tina!!!


Erica & prego Gina

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Parental Visit

Granny & Papa Wilson were here last weekend visiting for a few days...and although we didn't really do that much we of course kept busy with Miss H! The visit started off a little rocky when Harper took a little while to warm up to Granny & Papa, after picking them up from the airport I stopped at the grocery store for a few things and when I got back to the car H was hysterically crying! Thankfully she got over it pretty quick and by the end of the trip she was reaching out for her Granny! We did some shopping, ate yummy food, babysat 2 wild boys for my friend and did a lot of hanging out at the house...it was a great visit! I even made my first pie from scratch, pecan pie and I have to say it was quite delicious! Oh, and Santa paid a visit too with lots of fun gifts for Harper! We love our visits with Granny & Papa and as Harper gets older and really starts to know what is going on it will be really special to see how much she will look forward to seeing them!

Some pics from the visit:



Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving in Houston

The Lucas Family traveled to Houston for Thanksgiving...all four of us! This was Harper's first road trip so we didn't really know what to expect but she did great! Going there and coming back we got a 45 minute nap out of her which helped with the 3 hours car ride...the rest of the time she entertained herself and I sat in the back with her for awhile too. We are glad that she did well because we will all be going back to Houston for Christmas! While in Houston we had a fabulous Thanksgiving Feast and Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Jason got to spend some good quality time with Miss H!



Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanks!

Thanks Granny & Papa Wilson for the new chew toy, I love it very much!!!



Guitar time with Daddy



Open & Close

Harper is totally into opening and closing doors right now! It started last week at a playdate where she fell in love with a toy that had a barn door, she spent at least 30 mins opening and closing the door. Then she discovered that the mini kitchen she has at home has doors and most recently she has been having fun with the doors in our house! Too cute!


Teething!

Well, this morning I spent $30 for a teething consult! ;) Harper started to pull on her ear yesterday and was super fussy last night (it took a couple hours to get her to fall asleep) so we thought she probably had an ear infection so we took a trip to the doc this morning...nope, it's all teething related!!! Apparently sometimes the pain they are feeling in their mouth can carry up to the ear area and/or they just can't figure out where the pain is coming from...poor baby! And did I mention she is drooling buckets of drool...she drooled before while teething but nothing like this, she is soaking through bibs and clothes in under an hour! So she had 3 teeth come in on top a couple of weeks ago and now she is working on the 4th top one! I hope after that one comes in we will have a little break until the next tooth comes in!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Simple Tomato Sauce

Duh, here is the pasta sauce recipe...I forgot to include in the previous post. I also added a carton of roughly chopped mushrooms, enjoy!

Simple Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make Simple Tomato Sauce:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the basil and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. With a potato masher, break up the tomatoes to achieve a sauce-like consistency (unless you already used crushed tomatoes). Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Cook's Note: Tomato sauce will last 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

This and That

I am feeling a bit like a scatter brain tonight so I figured I would just share this and that!

Tonight I had a couple new culinary adventures...I made graham crackers and pasta sauce (not to serve together though!)...and I am pretty happy with how they both turned out! So I made the graham crackers as a test run for Harper's Birthday party in January...I found the recipe on a baby/toddler food website and thought it would be a good party favor, I think it's a winner! I found the cutest mini cookie cuters and one batch made 100 cookies!!! Aren't they cute!


The pasta sauce just sounded good and I found a really simple recipe. We paired it with a fresh whole wheat linguine pasta and my version of a wedge salad and it was fabulous!

Since we are on the subject of food, I will share with you what I fed Harper this week. I am having so much fun feeding her table foods and we have yet to feed her something she doesn't like! Asparagus, corn bread, a bean and cheese quesadilla, homemade graham crackers and she had pasta with mommy & daddy tonight! Oh, and I also found some healthy chicken nuggets from Costco that are all white meat and are grilled and not breaded...makes for a quick and easy meal, just the way I like it!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

New Hat!

Aunt Kasey sent Harper the sweetest hat...so we have to show it off of course!!!





Monday, November 8, 2010

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

If you like pesto this is a great change of pace! I tossed it with pasta and leftover grilled chicken, very good! My only suggestion is that you play with the amount of parmesan, I put in the entire 1/4 cup but I think it would have been better with a little less. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Seed Pesto (Makes about 1/2 cup)
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Seeds (pepitas), hulled
1/4 Cup Parmesan
1 Garlic Clove
1 Cup Basil or Parsley (or ½ & ½)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Olive OIl
1. If using raw (green) pumpkin seeds, place them on a baking sheet and toast for 10-15 minutes or until golden. If using toasted/roasted pumpkin seeds you can skip this step.
2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
3. Serve on pasta, fish, chicken or a spread on sandwiches.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Walker Toy

So a mama friend of mine gave me some toys awhile back and one of those toys was a walker toy...I threw it in the garage because we were months away from Harper being able to use it, well the day has come to bust it out! :) Harper has always had strong legs and has been putting weight on her legs since she was 2 months old...she started crawling around 7 months and has been pulling up on everything for awhile now! Needless to say, Chris and I have been holding our breath just waiting for her to take her first steps (I have made a deal with her though to wait until she is at least 1, mama isn't ready yet!)...so I guess in hindsight, taking out this toy might have not been the best idea, ha! But she loves the toy and loves the freedom it brings! It will be interesting to see how quickly her walking legs develop, here's to the next milestone!