There were two in a bed, and the little one said....

"Roll Over"

That's right Baby James rolled over last night. Zack and I had gone to the lake with my parents for the weekend. Saturday night, while we were trying out some delicious cheese and prosecco we bought at Catherine's Market, James was playing on his Baby Einstein doing a little tummy time. Well all of his frustration paid off- he rolled over and was much happier!!! I am so proud of my little man.





BABY JAMES RIGHT AFTER HE ROLLED OVER






BATHTIME AT THE LAKE

Oh Happy Day

It just made my day to find these delicious candies on the shelf today!! I really don't know why I find them so delicious- maybe because you can only find them once a year- but hooraah!! To make my day even better.... I'm not going to look at the fat/calorie content on the back!!

It begins...

So during my maternity leave I enjoyed catching up on everyones life via their blog...as a byproduct I realized so many people were saving tons of mulah on groceries by "the grocery game".

So today I started.

CVSing and couponing at Publix here I come!!!

Let me tell ya...it was such a high!! Today, after cutting coupons and printing lots thanks to www.southernsavers.com I bought TONS of groceries and spent $46 out of pocket (OOP) and saved $40. Zack and I calulated the price of out meal tonight ( a meat and 2 veggies- less than 2 bucks- WOOHOO). James was crying so I had to put the groceries up before taking a picture of all of my hard work, but I will try to for next weeks deals. How fun!!

I know I'm a huge dork- but its such a challenge- kinda fun.

2 months

2 month stats:

Weight (75th Percentile): 12.85 pounds
Height (90th Percentile): 24.25 inches
Head (90th Percentile): 42.3

I can't decide on my favorite...






Other James Updates:

(1) I started him back on his Zantac. I had previously tapered him off because I thought it wasn't working...well..it was.

(2) I started back to work last Wednesday. I miss my little man like crazy, but he seems to really like Cora , the sweet lady who babysits him. James was smiling when I got home, so that made me feel much better. We have been putting 1 teaspoon of rice cereal in his bottle while I'm at work- and it too seems to be helping with the GERD.

(3) James is just so sweet. He smiles and laughs all the time. He is getting much better at holding that big head of his up. He likes to sit in his Bumpo, and always seems so proud of himself when he does!

(4) Tummy time. James HATES it. Strange thing is- if I give him a paci he falls asleep- if I don't- he kicks and screams and wiggles and wobbles.

(5) James did GREAT with his shots. I am so proud of my big little man.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this month...



ALL SWADDLED BEFORE BED



QUIT TAKING PICTURES MOM!!



SLEEP MY PRECIOUS ONE



STRETCH



HE LOVES HIS HANDS ALMOST AS MUCH AS HIS PACI



HA...THIS LITTLE ONESIE HAS A SHEEP ON THE FRONT AND HAS THE WORDS TO OLD MCDONALD...I LOVE IT!!

Brown paper packages tied up with strings....

...these are a few of my favorite things

Below are a few of our favorite quick and easy chicken recipes:

Jane Collins Chicken

This was a dish Jane made in college (that's why I had it in my recipe book as Collins & not Boutwell). She always accompanied it with wild rice, broccoli casserole, and sister shubert yeast rolls. Its yummy and super easy!!

(1) Chicken (you can use whatever cuts you'd like as long as it has skin and bones- I tried it with boneless skinless once and it absorbs way too much salt. I usually use a mix of thighs and legs because they are Zack's favorite and they are super cheap!!)
(2) Garlic Seasoning
(3) Soy Sauce
(4) Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place chicken, skin side up, in a casserole dish
Sprinkle chicken liberally with garlic seasoning
Cover with soy sauce ( I put a lot- don't just sprinkle)
Squeeze lemon juice over chicken

Cook in oven for 1 hour or until chicken is done.

Note: I think the original recipe calls to cover with kosher salt and place in the fridge then rinse and prepare- I find that this chicken is super tender even if you skip this step so I always do

Papa's Chicken

My sweet Papa is the best cook I know. He calls his kitchen his la-bor-a-tory- and he is always sending the most delicious meals our way!! After James was born the one thing I requested was my Papa's Chicken and Dumplings- by far the most wonderful meal ever. Well my sweet Papa kept the meals coming and sent us this delicious chicken a few nights later. The meat was so tender it just falls off the bone. Here is the recipe. I like to serve it with steamed green beans, a roll, and white rice (the gravy made from the dish is oh so good over the rice).

One cut up chicken (or pieces if you prefer)
1 8oz. jar apricot preserves
1 bottle Russian Dressing (I usually use 1/2 bottle)
1 envelope onion soup

Place chicken in casserole dish or pan. Mix all other ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 300 degrees for two hours OR 350 degrees for one hour. (I like to remove the foil the last few minutes to brown the chicken a little especially if cooking just one hour)

Check for doneness and enjoy over rice!

Carraway Chicken

This is a dish my preceptor at Carraway hospital told me about. It is oh so good, and Zack always thinks I have slaved in the kitchen when I make it (I only sometimes correct him). It is great served with rice or noodles. My preceptor always bought sundried tomato bread from walmart to as she said "sop up all that goodness".

Chicken ( You can use boneless, skinless or regular)
1 bag of baby spinach
1 can of diced tomatoes or sliced fresh tomatoes
1 box of baby bella or while mushrooms sliced ( you can also use a jar of mushrooms) *
Balsamic Vinagrette
Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350

Wash spinach and place in bottom of casserole dish. Cover spinach with chicken. Season with salt and pepper ( I like to add a little garlic seasoning). Cover with tomatoes and mushrooms. Pour Balsamic Vinagrette (it's really good if you make the Italian seasonings dressing yourself but just a jar of kraft dressing is fine) over to taste. Cover with foil and cook at 350 until done. Sprinkle with cheese and cook 5 more minutes or until melted.

*I added the mushrooms to this dish because Zack loves mushrooms. You could just as easily leave them out.

Mama's Soup Chicken

Mama always made this chicken growing up. It's simple to make and comforting on a cold night. We always had it with green beans and white rice (once again the gravy made by the dish is yummy over rice)

One cut up chicken (or pieces if you prefer)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can of cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom soup

Place chicken in casserole dish. Cover with sliced onions. Pour soup over both. Cook at 350 for about an hour.

Zack, Zantac, and more...

Since it is the last day of the month ( & the little guy is taking a nap and the big guy is building cabinets for some friends) I thought I'd post a little update about what has been going on in our lives:

January 22,2008- Happy Birthday Zack!! Zack turned 30 on Thursday. Happy Birthday Rachel! Rachel turned 27 on Thursday as well.

We had so much fun celebrating that night. We turned off the TV, turned on Courtney & Scott's wedding CD (our favorite to cook/dance in the kitchen to), pulled out my Barefoot Contessa cookbook (also my FAVORITE!!!), opened a bottle of wine ( a nice bottle my Dad gave us while I was preggo that we had been waiting to drink), and cooked a delicious meal (Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic ( sounds overpowering, but when you cook the garlic for a long time it becomes sweet & delicious- who knew?!?), sauteed wild mushrooms, and sauteed baby spinach). We had so much fun we decided to make it a weekly thing to pick a delicious/complex meal to cook together each week.- we did it again this week and had so much fun. I love cooking with my husband. Well, I love doing anything with my husband...I am so blessed.

Saturday- Joe and Carl had some people over to celebrate Rachel & Lisa's birthday. When I walked in Rachel had all the girls in the den with ballots watching and judging the Miss America contest- classic!!( I love that girl). Also, I was so excited that Darcy & Taylor came down from Birmingham. I can't believe I didn't get a picture- but it was SO WONDERFUL to see them.

Sunday- I had 20+ people (our families) over for a 30th Birthday lunch for Zack. I cooked Shrimp and Feta casserole ( Jane, I found the recipe and will post it for you. I remembered you had asked for it when I went searching for it), Parmesan tomatoes, Kim's salad, and beef tenderloin (actually my sweet Mom made the beef tenderloin for me). We also had a massive dessert spread: banana pudding (Zack's mom made it- delicious), cherry dump cake (Mom made- also delicious), Chocolate ice cream dessert, and Better than sex cake (Uncle Brother ( Mom's brother) made- also delicious). We had so much fun- and were so glad to celebrate with Zack!!

James facts:

(1) James took his first bottle.

First things first...I started pumping- which is weird, but easy. Zack hooked up my breast pump (which is a double pump) and tried it out to make sure he had hooked all the tubes and suctions correctly- it was too funny- I cried I laughed so hard. He wouldn't let me take a picture and he also probably wouldn't let me post it on the blog if he was here (but he's not, and I don't think he reads it unless I hand him the computer to proofread ( I can't spell anything- a fact my brother told me is very concerning given that it is probably an important qualification for a pharmacist)...anyway as a result of the above mentioned facts you all get the pleasure of that mental image!!

Since I am starting back to work part-time the end of February, I knew I had to start pumping and making sure James would take a bottle. While I was out shopping for the birthday lunch food, Zack gave James his first bottle- and Zack said James took it like a pro. He has done very well with feeding from day one. After my 19 hours of labor and a C-section they brought James into nurse at midnight (note: I had no idea what to do)- and he took right to it- God was really looking out for me- he knew I couldn't take much more.

(2) James is laughing and smiling more and more

He started smiling very early. He was 3 weeks old in the picture I posted of him smiling a few posts ago. He thinks his Daddy is so funny when he pops the passy out of his mouth (see picture below...he also thinks it's funny if I do it, but Zack created the "game"). He also thinks the star on his Baby Einstein is funny and the mobile on his crib.

(3) James started and stopped taking Zantac

I started James on Zantac a few weeks ago due to his severe reflux. I don't think he was typical reflux- he had all of the symptoms, but sleeps well and he doesn't scream all the time- he usually opens his eyes very wide, turns bright red, squirms all around, and looks very distressed before he spits up. He had a very scary night a few weeks ago where he spit up 2 hours after he ate and started choking on it- (I will spare you all the details, but it scared me to death). Anywho...we started Zantac the next day. He HATES the Zantac- it felt like child abuse to give it to him. Well, he hasn't had any new choking spells, but it hasn't improved any of the other symptoms, so I stopped it 3 days ago. So we will see...

(4) I got his birth announcements in and spent all day Thursday updating my addresses and hope to get them printed on labels and out by Monday!! I got them printed on Shutterfly- my new obsession.

(5) Infant Massage

I rented a netflix video about infant massage...it is supposed to be good bonding, very relaxing to the baby, and can help babies with reflux and colic.T he video was super cheesy, but I decided to try it with James anyway. Well, he loves it. We do it in the morning after I give him a mini-bath. We sing and laugh, and it has become our favorite part of the day. He will also do his tummy time w/out crying for 15-20 minutes afterwards. My friend Karen said her son loved baby Yoga- so that may be next.

Well that's all I can think of for now!!

1 month

Happy Birthday James!!

9 pounds, 9 ounces (50th percentile)
22.5 ounces (75-90th percentile)
Cute as a button!!

singing happy birthday to our little guy

sitting in his rocking chair

snoozing after his big birthday celebration