My Loves!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Of course, Lainey was the first one up!

My little sleepy head, so confused as to all of the fuss.

A few goodies for each kiddo and some cinnamon rolls with pink frosting!  Yum!

Smooooches! I love this one!

Flashback to V Day 2013 and 2012 :)

Thankful

I don't think it matters that this post is a day late because I am thankful for these ones every day...

for this boy.  Oh, this boy.  I love how he loves me and NEEDS his Momma (though it's not always convenient).  I love how he gets into everything (though it's exhausting) and is so fun and playful.  Thankful for his joyful personality.

for this little girl.  I am thankful that she is the one who teaches me how to be a mom.  I am thankful for her constant chatter and singing and that just now as I type this, she's coloring at the counter and just said, "Mommy, I love you just the way you are!"  (Not even joking)  She is pure sweetness.

for this man.  I am thankful for what a hard worker he is.  He works so hard so that I can stay home and love our kids.  He works hard all day, comes home and loves and plays with us, serves our community group and our church many nights a week and then gets up and does it again each day.  He is a great example to us.

I'm thankful for our parents and our families, our nieces and nephew, I'm thankful for my brother in law who serves our country.  I'm thankful for grace and a Savior who loves me where I'm at each day.  I, we, have so much to be thankful for.

Easter Weekend in Minnesota

We just got back from a fabulous weekend visiting my family in Minnesota for Easter. We hadn't been there since Christmas and our visit was long overdue - my parents come down to see us as often as they can but it was so nice to see extended family too and just enjoy a weekend away. (And by away, I mean away from cooking, cleaning, the dog, etc... A welcomed break indeed!) We started off our weekend with my request I make every time we go to Minnesota... Leann Chin for dinner! It is a Chinese chain restaurant in the Twin Cities that has been my absolute favorite for years and years. I would prefer eating Leann Chin over ALMOST anything, seriously. It tastes that good to me. As always, it was delicious. Lainey drooled as she ate her peas and yogurt ... some day, my sweetie! After dinner, we got right to playing! Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa have acquired a lot of fun toys!
And then on to really playing!
Giving Grandpa a free dental exam...
My parent's coffee table is the perfect height for Lainey to stand at. She got REALLY good at standing over the weekend - like so good it was scary for being only almost 8 months old!



And even standing on her own for a few seconds at a time!
She also got so so so so so close to crawling! Her Daddy did some coaching. He is so good at teaching her new things and getting excited about the things she is learning how to do.
All of the sudden she wasn't hating being on her tummy since she was so close to being mobile!
Such a sweetie pie!
My Grandma, Lainey's Great Grandma Carey came over Saturday morning for breakfast and coffee. Lainey warmed up to her right away and showed her those fancy new tricks.
Lainey could look at books FOREVER, which my Grandma, a former teacher just loved!


Showing Grandpa her excited face! My parents just adore their granddaughters!
We got to Skype with Emily and Claire a few times too! Of course we wished they were there with us!!
More tummy time, playing with her computer...
On Easter, we all got up and ready pretty early to make it to church by 9. It was a great service celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection and the cost of God's loving sacrifice to choose to send His son to die on the cross for us.

After church, we enjoyed Easter dinner at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Duane's with a bunch of extended family. Lainey didn't get to taste the ham, potatoes and other goodies but did enjoy some yogurt and banana puffs!
Lainey loves her Grandma!
After lunch it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt! Jed helped Lainey get around to collect a few eggs. She was in charge of scoping out the eggs...

Lainey happened to "find" the big golden egg! :) Doesn't she look thrilled?!
Our sweet family of 3!


Checking out her loot!
She didn't care so much about what was inside the eggs (candy and quarters!) but enjoyed playing with the eggs none the less!

Here I am telling Lainey that Easter isn't really about eggs or bunnies or candy but it's all about Jesus!

I think Lainey enjoyed her first Easter!

Since we had such a busy day, Lainey hadn't really napped all morning so thankfully she slept like a baby on our drive home; we only had to make one quick stop. It was a wonderful weekend but like usual, we are glad to be home sweet home!

Our little Valentine

Rollin'

[This may or may not be the first non-Lainey post since her arrival... so if you're just visiting to read about Lainey, this post isn't for you... :)]

Some of my favorite memories growing up involve family road trips from Minnesota down to Iowa to see my Dad's side of the family in Knoxville and Pella. We would stay at my Grandma's and visit, play the game of Life, Phase 10, Catch Phrase or paper football, laugh (A LOT) and EAT! My Grandma Charlotte (where Lainey got her middle name!) is truly amazing in the kitchen. I know lots of people say this about their Grandma's, but they are all wrong, because mine is really the best. :) Some of her specialties include, but are not limited to, a traditional roast beef dinner (with mashed potatoes, corn, creamed peas, delicious gravy... yum), CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (I try and recreate this masterpiece all the time and never get it quite right), Chalupas, Chicken Tetrazzini, brownies... the list goes on. A few years ago, my cousin and I decided it was time for Grandma to teach us a thing or two in the kitchen. We first asked if she would teach us how to make her homemade pie crust, specifically for apple pies. Here we are learning the precious art of pie making...

Then, last fall we asked her if she would teach us how to make her dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls, since they are made from the same dough. These dinner rolls are amazing. They are flaky, buttery, soft and DELICIOUS. The cinnamon rolls are sugary and sweet. I think we both learned that working with dough is really a tricky task at first - there are many things that need to be done just a certain way ... Grandma's way! We all always tease her about her "measurements" and "recipes" - she eyeballs everything and usually leaves things out when sharing a recipe, which is why we couldn't just ask for it written down. We needed to get a hands on lesson! I hadn't gotten a chance to attempt the dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls... until NOW! With Thanksgiving coming tomorrow, it was the perfect opportunity for me to attempt the rolls!

All of the ingredients ready to go!

Simon... sigh.

Mixing the dry ingredients.

Scalding the milk and adding butter and margarine.

My sweet helper!

She makes the funniest faces... back to work...

Rolls rolled and rising...

Rolling up the cinnamon-y sugar-y goodness!

YUM!!

Obviously, my first attempt (top) was a learning experience and the second roll turned out much better!

Rolls baking away!

Icing drizzled on top of the warm rolls!

All of the finished products!

YUMMM!

Thankfully, little miss napped like a CHAMP today and helped me get a lot of this done without too many interruptions. I definitely learned a few things along the way and will have to try again soon and apply what I've learned. If you want the recipe, let me know, or want to join me next time I make these, you'll have to clear a good 4 or 5 hours out of your schedule, but you are more than welcome! :)