Happy 3 Months!

Happy 3 months old my Charleigh Grace! Wow how the time is flying by! You are growing so much lately. It seems like there is something new with you every single day...and I LOVE it!

Charleigh Grace

Likes: Sleeping in your own little bed next to mommy and daddy's (hooray!!)

kicking your feet

laying on your tummy

talking (cooing)

mornings...you are so happy in the morning!

chewing on your hands

Dislikes: When mommy leaves

Sudden movements from others (she's a scaredy cat!)

when people make fun of your hair...(oh wait...m

aybe that's just me! ;))

Growth: At your 2 month appointment you weighed 11lbs and were 23 inches long! So you probably weigh close to 12 lbs now. You wear 0-3 month clothes.

Appearance: Chubby cheeks, dimple in left cheek, little cleft chin, you are more aware of your surroundings, you still have no hair on top...and a lot around the bottom (we are still thinking about making you "friar tuck" for Halloween!) hehe. You have very long toes, just like your mama and dada :)

My favorite face

...just wanting to share the cuteness...

NEW LOOK

I decided my blog needed a new header! I will probably change it again soon... I kind of threw it together (wasn't sure how much time Charleigh was going to give me for this little project!) AND I tend to "over-photo" (if that's even a saying...) all of my creations. And this so happens to be one of them. I CAN'T CHOOSE which photos I love best! I have a problem with making choices...I am VERY indecisive! (My Kindergarten teacher had to have a talk with my mom because when it was time for centers I would stand in the middle of the room not able to choose-it started at an early age!...I partially blame my sister-she was good at bossing me around and telling me what I needed;)) Anyways...I realized a lot has happened since I first started this blog in 2009-so above you will see a new look. The many faces that I care so deeply for! I hope you enjoy all those faces every time you visit here as much as I do :) I will be editing the header again to make it a little more simple-but I thought I would put this one up in the meantime.

I love my job

I've had a lot of time on my hands in this rocking chair of mine...and therefore have had a lot of time to think. I realized that I am a little insecure in telling people that I am a "stay at home mom". I know this may sound silly, but I think I have finally gotten to the root of my problem. I went to college and worked my butt off to get a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management. And when I tell people that I stay at home now I feel like they just see me as some uneducated girl who knows nothing else. I think it also stems from paying a lot of money to go to a private school and get said degree. I want to work-I really do enjoy it...but I want it to be a job that I love! And right now the job I love is being a mommy to my little girl. I think I would be miserable anywhere else. However, the future still lingers in my mind...

Right out of college I worked for a company that shall remain nameless...::cough::enterprise rent-a-car::cough::....and I absolutely hated it! I have never regretted my decision of leaving that place. And it was then that I really had to re-think what I wanted to do with my career goals. As of now I really am enjoying being at home with Charleigh. But I know the day will come, whether it be sooner or later is a toss up, when I will want to go back to work. Before Charleigh was born I was a substitute teacher for Visalia Unified. The first year of that was a little rough...having to take every job thrown at me. But during my second year I began to really fall in love with the job. I could pick the assignments I wanted, was requested to be in the classrooms and at the schools that I enjoyed, and I was beginning to get the hang of it! I then began to re-think my career choice. Is teaching the profession for me? Or should I give the business world another shot? Who knows! I know God will eventually show me the way...but as of now He has opened all the doors for me to stay at home.

What the future holds....we shall see. Until then I am going to love my job, and not get so down on myself for telling people that I stay at home. I am thankful that I got to go to a wonderful college, get an amazing education, and meet awesome people. And I don't know how those working moms do it. I have a hard enough time juggling all the house chores and little one without a job...So keep up the good work all you mommys out there! It's a hard job-harder than people realize (until they have kids of their own...or are rich and have "mannys/nannys" ;)). And thank you to my mom-who worked throughout our childhood so we could have amazing opportunities of our own. I don't know how you did it mom-but you did a WONDERFUL job! Thank you for everything!

A little Fall cheer...

October is here! It really snuck up on me this year...I couldn't believe that it was October 1st on Saturday! Wow.  So in honor of it being October, which also makes it Fall, I am going to post a recipe that Jonny and I made on Friday night.  It is an adaptation of Emeril Lagasse's recipe.  It is called Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage Soup (I know...I was a little worried that I wouldn't like the sausage part, but it made the soup so flavorful! Give it a shot ;) I'm sure you'll like it too.  And if you aren't brave enough quite yet-then just take out the sausage part of this recipe!)  It was VERY tasty!  I even had some leftovers today for lunch. YUM!

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash, cut in half with the seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage (removed from their casings)
• 1 large onion, chopped (I used yellow, but white would be fine too)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus 12 whole leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
• 6 cups light chicken stock 
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (adjust to taste/consistency you like)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Get a cooking sheet out and cover it with parchment paper (makes squash not stick and clean-up a breeze!)

Take your seeded squash halves and coat them with half of the vegetable oil.  Lightly salt and pepper the flesh side and place them face down on your cooking sheet. Bake the squash approx. 45 minutes, or until fork tender.  When finished cooking let cool, then scoop out the inside and put into bowl.

In a large pot add the remaining 1 tsp. of vegetable oil and add the sausage.  Cook approx. 4 minutes (or until golden brown).  Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Once the onions are cooked add the garlic, chopped sage (not the 12 whole leaves), and marjoram.  Stir these in, then add the squash and chicken stock.  Stir until well combined.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer approx 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In this next step you can use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup-but Jon and I scooped up batches (about 3) and blended each batch in the blender then transferred the puree into a different pot.  It probably ended up being about the same timing it would take for a handheld blender...just more dishes dirtied :)

**The original recipe then calls for you to strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer but we skipped this step.  I really don't think it needed to be strained at all...it was really smooth.  Unless you are going to be judged with this soup, I say omit this step :) **

Then add the cider vinegar (we used red wine vinegar...it's all we had and it is such a small amount that you can't really tell the difference) Then add the cream.  Adjust seasoning to your taste...and there you have it.  A yummy fall dish!

*Serves 4-6

**I almost didn't do the last step to this recipe...but I had already picked the 12 sage leaves off their stems and didn't want to waste them.  And I am SO glad I did it! It adds a little extra something to the soup.  Here it is...take it or leave it as you please...but I vote take it!

In a small pan cook the butter over medium-high heat until it begins to turn brown around the edges. Add the whole sage leaves and cook until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the leaves to paper towels to drain.  Then when you serve the soup garnish each bowl with the leaves! They are actually quite tasty :)

Happy Fall!