Baby Hungry?

I have 4 friends who have all had (or are getting ready to have) BOYS! I guess I should have jumped on the wagon last summer when everyone was getting pregnant- then maybe I would have fulfilled Elodie's prayer request! For now, snuggling and taking pictures of my friends baby boys will have to do. And yes, this is definitely enough for me right now!

This was my first time photographing a newborn and it went really well. I have to say, I think newborns are my new favorite people to photograph. They don't move, you want them to have their eyes closed, and it doesn't matter if they look at the camera!

Another Thank You Note

Dear Arizona,

Thank you for allowing fall to come to the valley today. We have loved your 60 degree weather. Please let fall stay so I can do more of this...




And see more of this outfit on this cute little girl...


We both know that our relationship is based souly on the weather you decide to bring. Right now I love you. So please, I'm begging you....allow fall to stick around!! Otherwise, I'll have to go back to hating you!!!

With love (for now),
Alacey

Never too young for a french braid...

I've been on a french braid kick with Elodie. I'm trying to get better at it so any chance I get I am braiding her hair.

I was messing around with Addysen's hair the other night before we took our Halloween Costume pictures. She was sitting so still watching Signing Time that I thought it would be fun to try french braids.

They didn't last long and they aren't the least bit straight because towards the end she started getting wiggly. It was fun to try though. I think for now we will stick with pigtails!

POTD Challenge 10/18-10/24/09

One more from my fun shoot with the Thompsons


For Family Home Evening we painted pumpkins. We aren't really a carving pumpkins kind of family.



Book Club at The Cheesecake Factory! YUM-O! I had chocolate overload though and ended up with a headache the rest of the night! Our next Book Club will be the Premiere of New Moon! Can't wait!


The girls enjoying an after school snack...love those little popcorn buckets! They are perfect for them! Gotta love the Dollar Store!


Morning Grump...


Proof that our girls aren't meant to be up passed 7pm. This was around 7:30pm on Friday night!!


And finally, Ginger got a new bone this week. She hasn't been chewing on it, just carrying it around the house wherever she goes. It's super cute! I'm sure eventually the honeymoon stage will be over and the bone will be long gone!

Introducing....Pretty Peacock and Little Ladybug

WARNING!!! Cuteness OVERLOAD!!

Thank You Note

Dear Crazy 8/Gymboree,

I was browsing your website the other night and came across this dress.

Thank you for making this dress. It has my name written all over it. And when my buying fast has ended, you will be the first place I go to get this dress!

It screams "SISTERS IN MATCHING DRESSES!" and I can't wait to put my girls in these dresses, grab my NEW camera, and put them out in a field for pictures!

You have made this buying fast all worth it!

THANK YOU!
Alacey

22 days done- 9 more to go.

Almost a month ago I read on someone's blog that their monthly allowance for buying clothes for their daughter was $10...yes, $10! I couldn't believe it!! I thought about it for a while after reading her post and started thinking about how much I spend on my girls in a month.

Then I cringed and moved on to thinking about other things. More important things....

In all seriousness, I wondered if I could challenge myself to do the same thing. I'm by no means a shopaholic but when it comes to my girls...especially matching outfits...I can justify any reason to buy them clothes! So then I took it a step further. I decided I would go a whole month without buying a single piece of clothing for my girls. They have a ton of clothes and Addysen hardly wears any of Elodie's handmedowns because I'm always finding cute new things for her.

So I started October 1st and I'm proud to say that I have been successful so far. It's not to say I didn't think of cheating. There have been plenty of moments standing in Gymboree with something I just had to have. But I've been good and resisted the urge...Slowly putting it back on the rack and quickly walking out of the store!

I can't say this has been a life changing experience- but it's been nice to show some self-control and dig a little deeper in the girls drawers to find all those pieces they don't wear hardly at all.

I can't wait till November 1st though because I have found the perfect dresses for the girls! They scream "PUT ME IN A FIELD AND TAKE MY PICTURE!" It'll be like my "welcome back" present to myself!

Have you ever done the 30 day challenge? Gone without something for 30 days?

Official Big Girl Status

The other day, my friend Melissa posted about getting her little Graycie's hair in pigtails. (Grayce and Addysen were born the same day) It hadn't really occured to me that Addysen might have enough hair for full pigtails until seeing her post. We've been able to do half up half down pigtails for a while. Elodie's hair didn't get in to full pigtails till she was well over 2!

This morning we tried it out and to my surprise it worked!!! And sadly, she definitely looks like a big girl-and a lot more like Elodie for some reason too!

As you can tell she is also in the dreaded "not interested in taking a picture OR looking at the camera" stage! I have 2 ends of the spectrum- Elodie loves having her pictures taken and poses like a pro..then there's Addysen who could care less about the camera! She just sees pictures as an opportunity to run free!
Love this girl!

How many boys can you fit in one picture?

Look at all these brothers! I got to take pictures for my friend Lori and her family. I was super excited and really nervous to photograph such a large group but in the end, there wasn't anything to worry about! These boys were awesome and totally rocked every picture!

The holidays are coming up and November is the perfect month to get a family picture! I love the practice so let me know if you want me to do them! AND, bonus! I should be getting my new camera for my birthday so it's all around perfect timing!

Here are a few of my favorite...

POTD Challenge 10/10-10/17/09

My cake...


Elodie reading books to her sister-


My first speeding ticket...


Elodie helping me clean the mirrors...I'll take the help while she is willing to give it!


Addysen found a new chair.


The little band that Chris' Dad and Uncle put together over the summer got together again and played down here in the Valley. It was fun but mostly I'm posting this because Christopher is wearing a Hawaiian shirt! You will NEVER in your life see that again! So funny! I thought he looked cute but it's so not him!

You'll never want Olive Garden again...trust me!

Man, I am totally just scoring with all these new recipes I've been trying. Not one has been a bust so far!!! Makes me so happy to be in the kitchen!

Last night I tried a Fettucini Alfredo recipe and it was to die for!! Amazing! Seriously!

I had all of the ingredients on hand and nothing was too complicated- christopher commented that it looked like I was on the Food Network-I took that as a really nice compliment!

Definitely another winner in our house! Make this tonight-have I ever steered you wrong?

Perfect, Creamy, Fettuccine Alfredo:


1 pound boneless chicken breast
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 and 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
t teaspoon steak seasoning

Pound out your chicken breast between 2 sheets of wax paper
Mix eggs, garlic powder, lemon juice, and milk together and let sit for 10 minutes
Add chicken and let marinate for 20 minutes- you can also do this step in the morning, put everything in a ziploc and let it marinate for a couple of hours in your fridge.

After marinating mix together- flour, bread crumbs, salt, baking powder, and steak seasoning.
Remove chicken from milk mixture and coat with in flour mixture.

Next step:
Bowl one pound linguine noodles.

While that is going:
Make the sauce.
You will need..

1 cup chicken broth
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 basil leaves finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley,finely chopped.

Start by bring your 1 cup of chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and add your whipping cream, cornstarch, and garlic. Bring to a soft boil and stir for one minute. Reduce heat to low and add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Let simmer for about 10 minutes as sauce thickens. Right before your ready to plate toss in your basil and parsley.

While that is going:
Heat up a pan with 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Once super hot, add your chicken and pan fry till done. Remove from heat and keep warm.

There's a lot going on at once- you have to watch your chicken, make your sauce, and stir your noodles. Trust me..it's all worth it! I served with a side vegetable and bread.

And in case you are wondering, I got this recipe from a new site I've been checking out...check it out HERE

Parent/Teacher Conference

I had a meeting with Elodie's teacher today. Can you believe we are already half way through the first semester. Craziness.

I just love her teacher- and she loves Elodie. To quote Mrs. W. she said "I love Elodie's spunkiness!" We do too...most of the time!

Everything is going great. Elodie loves school and is progressing amazingly! I love to see her week to week progression-which is why I am so happy I'm doing the weekly class/homework post.

Mrs. W. said her reading and penmanship are right on and Elodie is having no problems with addition and subtraction.
She got an Outstanding in both reading and Math and a Satisfactory PLUS in Penmanship. Rightfully so. It's tricky getting all the letters the same size! And painful to watch sometimes!

On the other hand..

-she can be chatty. Her teachers words exactly. She has gotten 2 yellow lights for being "chatty on the carpet" or "talking! talking! talking!" I don't know where she gets it! Definitely Christopher!

-she is struggling with staying on task: she gets distracted easily by other students and is always interested in what everyone else is doing. Her teacher said she has to remind her to finish her own work and stop looking around the room. Isn't this every girl?

and

-she got a Satisfactory for "cares for personal property". This is no shocker to us as we are constantly reminding her to pick up her things, bring things to her room, or pick up one thing before starting something new. She is happy to help and usually responds with an "Okay mom" but sometimes the "spunkiness" her teacher loves so much comes out! Mrs. W. said that when Elodie sees other kids finished with their assignments and lining up or moving on to something else she gets rushed and starts shoving things into her desk instead of taking her time and putting things back where they belong. Really no shocker! I got to take a peek into her desk to see what her teacher was talking about and let's just say we will have to work on it. I think it's the age and I know she knows better-part of not having mom around to remind you every minute of the day.

And for those of you who heard my rant about her Satisfactory in Music on her Progress Report....she now has an Outstanding! Whew! Apparently the music teacher gave everyone Satisfactory.

Overall, we are super happy with Elodie's progress. We love her teacher, we love her school, and we are so happy with how well Elodie is doing in school!

Flowers in Fall

It's been a few months since I've been asked to do a cake for anyone. I was feeling the itch so when I got a call about a 4 year old garden party themed birthday party, I was so excited! I love the way it turned out!