Emma Claire's Nine Month Portraits

A few weeks ago I took Emma Claire's nine month portraits and I am in love with them. Her little personality just shines through in each one. Today she is TEN months old and I just can't believe it. Before you know it she will be one and I will be working on her cake smash pictures!

I hope you loved them as much as I do.  They bring a smile to my face each time I look at them. I just can't believe that my little princess is already TEN months old! My how time has flown...

Tasty Treat Thursday

Well by the time this blog has been posted miss Emma Claire and I will {hopefully} be well on our way to North Carolina to see Allie and Raleigh Grace! Prayers would be appreciated...this is an all girls road trip! 

Today I'm sharing my Mexican chicken noodle soup. I really just combined a bunch of ingredients together in the crock pot until it seemed appetizing. 

Ingredients

Chicken

Can of black beans

Corn {fresh, steam fresh bag, or fresh}

Tomato {Fresh or canned}

Red Bell Pepper

Onion

Garlic

Salt & Pepper

Taco Seasoning

Can of chicken broth

Noodles

Directions

Place chicken in crockpot

Add can of black beans, corn, tomato

Dice red bell pepper, onion, and garlic

Add diced veggies to crockpot

Add can of chicken broth and if needed 1/2 cup of water

 Cook on desired heat setting.

Serve over pasta (mine was some leftover from the previous day)

Since I'm writing this in advance I don't have the link up activated but head on over to Allie's blog and link up with us!

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Wednesday Whatnots

As the little miss naps I am currently in the process of doing laundry, cleaning, packing, and getting things all ready to go for our little trip down south. I'm pausing all of my chores to blog for a bit. Today we had a good morning because for once the hubs was HOME! He didn't have to go in today until his normal time of 1pm so we had him all morning.

Last night when I was drying EC off after her bath I flipped the camera on my iphone around because she LOVES that and stopped the post bath fussies. Right when I took the first picture she threw her head back and SNORTED. It was so funny and I can't believe I actually got a picture of it. And can you believe her TEETH? I am obsessed with them!

I am going against all of my natural instincts NOT to post this no makeup, just woke up two minutes ago, hair in a bun, sleepy momma picture because I just love it so much. We were being goofy and again, playing with the camera. When Emma Claire straight up LICKED me. No words. That child of mine is turning into a puppy. 

My toes are ready for our vacation! After I finish packing I'm going to attempt a little mani and pretend that I spent today at a spa getting pampered instead of running around getting things ready like a crazy lady.

Like I said we had our guy all morning long so of course we had to drag him take a family trip to Target. Is her face not precious? I was trying to get her to smile but she just kept staring up at her Daddy. She is the smitten kitten.

After Tarjay we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We had a coupon for a free kids meal AND a free cookie. When we left I had a happy baby and a happy husband.

This just makes my momma heart AND my teacher heart so so happy. I love that she loves books so much!

And lastly what would a random post be without some drama? I got this gem of a comment earlier today.

I know most people don't like rude anon comments but honestly, this was hilarious to me. I was OBVIOUSLY being sarcastic about not "needing" a weekend. Of course we would LOVE for him to have even one day off. I also love the connotation that my husband works so hard and I spend my days crafting and shopping. I wish! Maybe I don't do enough "real life" posts but I can promise that is not my daily life as a SAHM! Ha! There will always be a critic and some comments may hurt more than others but this one just made me laugh.

Twenty Things Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today should be our "Saturday" but a certain guy is at work...and he went in four hours early...and no day off tomorrow either. So bye weekend, we didn't need you around here anyways! Today I thought I would do a random list post of some things going on around here.

1. In just a few days Emma Claire and I will be on our way to meet THE Raleigh Grace. And of course her Mom and Dad. I am SO excited to finally get these two little ladies together. 

2. The hubs won't get a single day off this month. Hard worker.

3. Emma Claire can now say, "mama" "dada" "nana" "duh duh" {which I think means doggie}, can say her g sounds, and is working on some r noises. 

4. I am probably too excited for the Pretty Little Liars season finale tonight. Anyone else?

5. I really do miss Texas but I am loving this end of summer weather in Virginia.

6. I am so annoyed with all of this political party fighting garbage. I am totally supportive of people having whatever political viewpoint they choose, but that doesn't mean you need to blast it all over facebook or be crass about it. 

7. I have so many house projects coming up that it sometimes hurts my head to think about.

8. Emma Claire will be one year old in 64 days.

9. I have bought {and returned} three sets of curtains for the formal living area. 

10. Days like today make me want to kiss the inventor of the crock-pot.

11. Emma Claire is currently screaming at me. Her new favorite toy is my laptop. Read: problem for Mommy.

12. This is the first year I'm excited for fall and not excited for fall at the same time. With a house that isn't complete it will be challenging to decorate for the holidays. {also known as motivation to get house projects D-O-N-E!}

13. Speaking of fall I bought my first fall Yankee candle yesterday! 

14. Emma Claire has discovered the dish towels in the kitchen.

15. I started and stopped writing this post three times today. 

16. I am in the process of building my photography portfolio! I can't wait to take some pictures next week when visiting Raleigh Grace and Allie! If you know anyone in Northern Virginia that needs pictures taken then let me know!

17. I am ready to order my fall scentsy scents!

18. My dogs need a haircut so dang bad. 

19. Speaking of grooming I could really use a mani/pedi. 

20. I took some pretty cute pictures of Emma Claire today in a new bubble. It's smocked, gingham, and has a criss cross back. Can you say adorable?

Bustin' Out the Big Camera

Just recently I have gotten two new camera lenses. A 50mm and a 35mm. I LOVE both of them and need to start using my DSLR more. It's so easy just to use my iphone to capture every day moments and use the DSLR for "big" days. On Saturday I decided that I would capture an everyday afternoon with my DSLR rather than the iphone. Nothing special was going on, EC didn't have a bow in her hair and wasn't even wearing clothes for that matter! I managed to take a little under 200 pictures in just a short time and have chosen some of my favorites to share. 

and my favorite from the afternoon...

 

I just love this picture so much. It's so simple and there's just something about the way she's holding open the curtain, crossing her feet, and looking out on the patio. This will most definitely be framed somewhere in our house.

Pizza Night is BACK!

When I first went diary free I couldn't imagine making it eight days let alone eight MONTHS without diary. Over the past eight months I've learned to change my eating habits, try new foods, and overall I learned I CAN live without diary. One thing has been missing though...pizza. I used to make homemade pizza all of the time and I LOVED it. However, when I gave up dairy that was obviously not happening anymore. 

I always thought I would just wait until I could have real cheese again to have pizza because there was NO WAY I was going to eat "fake" cheese. Well today at the grocery I picked up some dairy free cheese. I didn't have high hopes but I also picked up the makings for homemade pizza.

I have to admit it did NOT taste great alone, but I kept on and made the pizza. I was nervous that it wouldn't melt or would have a weird texture.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. It was GREAT! It melted perfectly, had a great texture, and tasted great with the dough and sauce! So Friday night pizza nights are BACK y'all!

Emma Claire loved it too! It was a hit all around. Now the real test will be to see what the hubs thinks when I make it for him!

Teacher Room Signs!

This time of year has always been special to me. There is just something magical about the start of a new school year. While I'm not starting the year as a teacher I still think of all of my teacher friends beginning a new year. It's fun, scary, exciting, and exhausting all in one. I decided to make a room sign for my best friend Paige as she starts her FIRST year teaching first grade. Then I made several more for other teacher friends. 

I just wanted to share the cute little sign here and see if any of my bloggy teacher friends want one! 

 If you do just comment and let me know what grade/name you would like! You can also change the color. I know everyone doesn't bleed green and gold. Sic'em! ;-)

Tasty Treat Thursday

As we begin the second Tasty Treat Thursday I want to give a BIG shout out to everyone who linked up! THANK YOU! If you missed last week here are the awesome recipes that some wonderful ladies linked up. Go check them out. They all sound AWESOME!

Etta at Cheerful Homemaker Shared Butterfinger Blondies 

Allie at Living the Adventures shared Sugar Free Wheat Banana Bread

Kristin at Fancy Free Life shared a Strawberry Ammaretto Almond Trifle

Tami at Little Moments Like This shared Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

Hillary at The Ones Who Call Me Mama shared her Cream Cheese Spread

Beth Ann at My Life More Abundant shared Santa Fe Soup

 

Megan at Table for Three shared Veggie Patch Pizza

I shared my Black Bean Corn Salsa

 

Today I'm sharing a little recipe I made up when I really had NO desire to cook dinner...and it was only 11am. So I knew I needed to pull out the good ole' crock-pot!  I wasn't sure how this would turn out but it was quite tasty! 

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Ingredients

- Pasta

- Chicken strips (I used frozen)

- Tomato (I used one fresh diced and one can)

- 1/2 onion diced

- 1/2 red pepper diced

- 1/2 cup water (I measured using the empty can of tomatoes)

- Salt

- Pepper

- Garlic Powder

- Brown Sugar

{All seasoning was to taste. I added some initially then tasted and adjusted as the day went on. The brown sugar is important to cut down on the acidity of the tomatoes}

Directions

- Place chicken in crock-pot

- Dice all veggies and add to crock-pot

- Add can of tomatoes and water

- Cover

- Cook on whichever setting you desire! I did low for 8hrs

- I also had pasta cooked from the previous day. But just cook any type of pasta before serving. I don't know about putting it in the crock-pot so I would say just do them separately. 

I LOVE how this turned out. The first night I ate it I was calling it "Italian Chicken Noodle Soup" It was SO good. Then it thickened overnight into more of a sauce so the following night it was kind of spaghetti-ish.

Have any good recipes to share?! Link up and let us know!

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