Harleigh's Favorite "Sport"

Harleigh's favorite activity at 21 months is "jumping".  She gets about as  much "air" as mommy, in that her feet typically don't leave the ground.  So I guess you can say it's more of an "explosive squat" than a jump.  Here she is jumping off a stoop in the yard.  This is such a fun age!

Counting

So over the past few weeks, Harleigh's begun to count to 10.  We have made a point to count with her when we go up and down the stairs and now it's just part of the routine.  She does a great job too, however, we're learning that our little princess will likely not be wearing a jersey with number 5 on it. As she skips that number almost every time.

Stuffed Jalapenos

CAUTION: WEAR GLOVES WHEN DEALING WITH JALAPENOS or you may face 36 hours of pure pain and discomfort!!

Stuffed Jalapenos


4 slices think bacon
8 oz. cream cheese
¼ cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup minced green onions
1 tsp. fresh lime juice
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 small garlic clove, minced
14 jalapenos, halved lengthwise & seeded (WEAR GLOVES WHEN DOING THIS)
Cooking spray
2 tbs. chopped fresh cilantro


1. Preheat broiler

2. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan & drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon. Combine crumbled bacon, cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, & next 4 ingredients (through garlic) in a bowl.

3. Place peppers on a baking sheet, skin side up, and broil until slightly charred (about 3 minutes).

4. Divide cheese evenly and fill the pepper halves. Place peppers, cheese side up, under broiler until cheese mixture is lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro & serve.

Book Review: Hunger Games

I've been in a Book Club for a year and a half.  This may come to a shock for most, as I absolutely hate reading. I'm more of a "pictures" person, so magazines/movies are more my speed.  We'll for our October book club we were debating on the next book to read so I suggested Hunger Games, I had read it was a celebrity fave in one of my trashy mag's.  After suggesting it, I immediately wanted to stick my foot in my mouth because this meant that I should attempt to read it.  Since Hunger Games is a newer book, they didn't have the audio cd's available, and they are making the movie now so I couldn't "cheat".  A colleague of mine said she got it, and let me borrow it.  I read it in 3 days!  It was a great book, a little disturbing for new mom's though.  Here's a quick recap of the book without giving away any of the juicy secrets.

In The Hunger Games' case, the future America (now called Panem) is made up of 12 Districts, each District serving a purpose, whether mining, fishing, farming, etc. The produce from every District is used mostly to benefit the affluent citizens living within the Capitol, leaving the District natives suffering with poverty and starvation.



Every year the Government living in the Capitol hosts The Hunger Games, where a boy and a girl (aged 12 - 18) from each of the 12 Districts is selected at random to enter a televised event where all 24 'tributes' will have to kill or be killed in an arena containing various weapons and utilities.


The last remaining survivor will return to their District a hero with a new life of fame and fortune and the Governments reward of one years supply of food for their District.

It's very good and I would recommend it to everyone.  We're now on the second book of the series...

Baby Boy Kamm Update

I had my 24 week appointment and everything seems to be going well with the second pregnancy.  A few differences from Harleigh and baby #2:

- back pain set in much earlier with Baby #2
- pelvic pain much stronger with Baby #2
- cravings for carbs for Harleigh, cravings for seafood and protein with this little guy
- love chocolate with both babies
- blood pressure still good (it was for both babies at this point)

I have my last 2nd Trimester appointment in December (gloucose test :(), then I'm in the home stretch in the 3rd trimester. 

Ding Dong, the Bottles are Gone!

We've been trying to get Harleigh off the bottle for quite some time.  At school she only gets sippy cups, and at home she would only get a bottle for naptime and bedtime.  But, for the past week or so, we've completely cut out bottles.  Harleigh didn't go down without a fight (she's stubborn like her daddy).  She would get really fussy and refuse the sippy cup hoping to get the bottle.  However, after the first few days past she waved the white flag and we're now bottle free! (Well, until the little guy comes along in a few short months!)  Up next potty training...

Happy Birthday, Joel Bob!

Happy 26th birthday to my "little" brother, Joel!  I hope you have a wonderful day.  In the spirit of birthday's, I want to share my top 3 presents Joel's given to me or family members:

1. Dried out marker, Scotch tape, and other supplies from around the house (Joel had a tendency when he was younger to wrap gifts for us, he would find our gifts around the house and wrap them).  One Christmas we had to us masking tape instead of scotch tape, as the scotch tape was already under the tree- wrapped.

2. Coupons.  Joel was the king of "coupons", and I mean handwritten coupons.  These were for things like cleaning our room, foot massage, doing dishes for us on our dish day, etc.  Typically, you could use the coupons, but only when it was convenient for Joel, and yes, they expired.

3. Stuffed Monkey.  This is a serious one, after I had Harleigh, Joel brought a stuffed monkey to the hospital for Harleigh.  The monkey had a bib, diaper, and paci.  This gift is special to us because it's one of Harleigh's favorites.  She loves her monkey and will carry it around or walk it in her stroller.  Zak and I have found her sucking on the monkey's paci at times as well. 

Happy Birthday, Joel Bob! 

Trip to Chicago

Zak and I were able to have a mini vacation to Chicago in October.  I was there for a company conference and Zak tagged along.  We had unbelieveable accomodations at the Ritz Carlton off of Michigan Ave. so we couldn't pass up the opportunity.  We were able to check out Second City (an improv group that started Sat night live), Gino's East Pizzeria (for authentic Chicago style pizza), Architecture boat tour, Navy Pier, The "Bean", Millenium park, and a few others.  Below are some pictures of the trip:

Zak enjoying a glass of wine in our suite at the Ritz! I'm 19 weeks pregnant so Zak had to enjoy the adult beverages for the two of us.  He didn't complain :)

View from our room on the 27th floor (across from the Hancock building and next to Michigan Ave "Miracle Mile")

Mmmm....breakfast at a Chicago favorite "Tempo" this omelette had potatos at the bottom- delicious!

We were there for the Chicago Marathon, which we checked out

My model/actor husband always camera ready!

On the architecture boat tour- I would highly recommend checking this out if you're in Chicago.

downtown

pictures from the boat tour

boat tour

after the boat tour, we stopped by the Navy Pier to see what was going on there.  Next time I want to go to Harry Carey's bar for a drink and fries.  Looked like a fun sports bar.

This is the death trap Zak convinced me to go on.  It was the largest farris wheel I've been on (and probably the last).

As my eyes were closed for 99% of the trip Zak took all these pictures.  It looked really cool, I probably should have opened my eyes at this point.

Another picture from the Farris Wheel of death

Also at the Navy Pier was the botanical gardens that had some really neat fountains

Cathedral outside our hotel

We went to The Purple Pig for tapas- also delicious!

In front of lake Michigan, there was a really beautiful park there too.  Next time, I want to rent bikes and ride around to check out this area.  You can't tell with this picture, but there were quite a few boaters out there too.

Chicago at night

The Bean

Millenium Park

The Shadow

On Tuesday's and Friday's Harleigh and her cousin Landon have playdates with the nanny (Mrs. Rama).  I work from home one of the days typically so I can have some Mommy-Harleigh time on those days for lunch or hugs and kisses breaks.  Since I'm pregnant there's always chocolate around the house, and every time I go to grab a piece I notice I have two little shadows that follow me around wanting their share.  It cracks me up, I'll let them know "no more", "all done" yet they continue to look around for more chocolatey goodness.

Buckeye Bars- mmm....

Who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate?  Here's a holiday favorite of mine.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used half smooth, half crunchy)
22 NILLA Wafers, crushed
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 of 8-oz. tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

LINE 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Beat butter and peanut butter with mixer until blended. Mix in wafer crumbs. Gradually add sugar, mixing well after each addition. Spread over bottom of the pan.
MICROWAVE COOL WHIP and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir. Microwave 15 to 30 sec. or until chocolate is melted; stir until blended. Spread over peanut butter layer.

REFRIGERATE 2 hours. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan before cutting to serve.

The Kicker

So a few weeks ago I was getting a little nervous because I wasn't feeling baby boy move much. They say that with pregnancy number 2 you should feel them around 17 wks.  After my 20 week ultrasound, they said that everything was fine.  That due to the way everything was in place, the little guys kicks were being blocked.  As I continue to grow, I'll feel them more.  Over the past week or so, I've really started to feel this guy.  It still is so crazy how you have no control over the little pea inside.  I've reached 23 wks, only 17 more!

Fall Family Fun in Pictures

Family photo at Julia's 2nd Birthday Party

Harleigh ready for school

At the park- that boy would not move...

Zak and I in Chicago

On your marks, get set, .....

Zak and I about to go on the Architecture Cruise in Chicago

Harleigh taking care of baby- of course, she needs shoes

Lake Michigan in the background

Navy Pier- Chicago

Lake Michigan

"The Bean"- Chicago

Asheville, NC with the Kamm Family

Our little cutie

Pineapple Cheese Casserole

With the holiday season around the corner, I want to put a few holiday "favorites" up throughout the next few months.  Please share any favorites you have as well.

Pineapple Cheese Casserole

•2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
•2 eggs
•1 can of crushed pineapple (20 oz)
•1 can of pineapple tidbits (20 oz drained)
•4 tbsp of flour
•1/2 tsp salt
•1 cup of sugar
•1 stick of melted butter
•2 stacks of Ritz crackers

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a 9x13 pan. Crush crackers, pour butter over the crackers, mix. Spread crackers over the top of the casserole. Cook for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. Let me know if you cook it and like it!