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She's getting so big!

Averi is just the cutest baby ever. She's such a little princess. She's so sweet most of the time, but she can go from zero to sixty in about 3 seconds, and back again just as quickly. I love her hair. It's so fine that it stands straight up, but it's totally cute. She's also beginning to learn how to crawl. She loves to get up and rock on her hands and knees, and she's finally figured out that she can get to things by doing that. She mostly goes backwards now, but in the last day or two she's finally been able to go forward a little bit. She's getting so big!

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Aaron was sick yesterday, so I made him one of his favorite meals. It's nothing very fancy or gourmet, but it's just downright delicious. I make my own enchilada sauce for these, since I never seem to have any on hand and I like being able to control the sodium. But you could always use 1 jar of mild and 1 jar of hot and combine them together for this recipe. First make up a batch of the enchilada sauce (I usually double it, since I like it really saucy and it's nice to have leftover sauce). Have everything ready, since you don't want the flour and chili powder to burn. I've done that, and trust me, it's not very good. 10 Minute Enchilada Sauce (It's actually more like 15 minute sauce, but who cares.) 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoons self-rising flour (I've always used all-purpose, and it's turned out okay) 1/4 cup chili powder 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 1/2 cups water 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion salt salt to taste 1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour. 2. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt. Bean and Cheese Enchiladas 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 can (4 oz) diced green chile peppers 1 can whole kernel corn 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 2 cups shredded pepper-Jack cheese (you can substitute sharp cheddar for this) 1 batch enchilada sauce (above) 8 flour tortillas Fresh cilantro for garnish Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, mix beans, chile peppers, corn, chili powder, salt and cumin. Slightly mash beans; stir to combine. Add 1 cup cheese. Stir 1 cup of the enchilada sauce into bean mixture. Spread 1/4 cup of the reamining enchilada sauce in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Brush one side of a tortilla with enchilada sauce. Spoon 1/4 cup of the bean mixture in center on sauced side; roll up. Place enchilada in baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and bean mixture. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over top to cover. Top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with sour cream.

Mary Kay 50% Off

If any of you are interested, I'm selling all my remaining Mary Kay merchandise for 50% off. I've got quite a bit of stuff; you can check out my inventory on craigslist HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Why Grandpas Need Such Big Shoulders...

I was looking through some old pictures to find some I needed to scrap, and I came across this photo of my dad: So sweet! My kids seriously have the best grandparents in the world. All four of them are simply wonderful, and they are adored completely by my children. We love you all and miss you! Summer can't come soon enough! ETA: When Katie saw this post, she shouted, "That's Grandpa Barnes! We love him!" So I'm not just making this up...

Tagged

My friend Jen tagged me, so I'm supposed to post the 4th photo in the 4th folder. Technically, this is the 4th in the 4th in the 4th: It's my little sister Ashley while we were on a snowmobiling trip in Yellowstone in February of 2004. Look how close she is to that buffalo! Here are some other pictures from that same trip: The girls: Chelsey, Heather, and Ashley Dad Whoa, Heather is BLONDE!! Mom and Dad This was quite uncomfortably close... Okay, so I tag Ashley, Kristie Lee, and Laura Carlston! 4th photo in your 4th file!

Averi's SIX Months Old!

Can you believe it? I hate saying it, because it seems so cliche, but the time really has flown. It doesn't seem possible that so much time has passed since she was born. She really is the sweetest little girl and brings so much joy to our lives. She had a doctor's appointment today, and she's dropped down to the 25th percentile in weight, but the doctor said she wasn't worried about it, since nursing babies frequently do that around this age. We just need to focus on feeding her high calorie baby foods like sweet potatoes and bananas and keep an eye on her. Here are her stats: Weight: 14 lbs, 8 oz Height 26.5 inches (I think) Head: 75th percentile! Our babies all have very large heads! Funny story...after Averi had her shots, she was really upset, so I was nursing her in the doctor's office before we left. The doctor came in, sat down, got out her stethoscope, and said, "So what are we in for today?" I was extremely confused and said, "Um, Dr. Longfield, we've already seen you today...?" She was mortified, but I just started laughing. "Oh, my gosh," she said, "I'm SO sorry! I've been on call this entire weekend and I'm so tired! I've never done this before. I'm so sorry!" Then she started laughing so hard she was crying. It was quite funny. Now that I type it out, it doesn't seem as funny as it was then, but trust me on this one. So we had to do a six month photo shoot, of course. Averi was definitely not in the mood, but I managed to capture a few good ones.