Holiday Re-cap and Birthday Party

After a very successful and busy Christmas, I am happy to say the holidays are almost over. I had a wonderful time seeing my family and friends, however, it was really tiring. It was one busy day after another. So now after baby boy's first birthday yesterday and my last Christmas party tonight I will have a few days of relaxation before heading off to the dells! Exciting! 

Anyways. For the birthday party yesterday, I used some ideas I found on Pinterest. Obviously! 

The food: Salsa Chicken. Let me start by saying: I LOVE CROCKPOT COOKING. It is just so easy. And there are so many options. This was probably my 4th time making this recipe and it is really good. The original pin brought me here to Texas Fit Chicks blog. If you are too lazy to go to the link, the recipe is:
1 cup frozen corn
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can rinsed black beans
1.5 cups of chunky salsa. 
(I didn't actually measure any of this. And I tripled the recipe. Roughly 7 chicken breasts, 3 cans of corn and beans, and two jars of salsa (one large & one small). It fed 12 people with enough left over for another meal for a family of 5! We made the burrito with it.)
It is super easy and super good. I like to let the chicken cook almost the whole time and then make pulled chicken. I used the entire mixture of beans, corn, chicken and salsa and put it in a tortilla with taco/burrito fixings. It was a hit. It is going in my recipe book for sure. Next time I make it I will have to take a picture!

Apple slices. Also a HUGE hit. I cut up 4 apples and they were all gone in about 20 minutes.    The original link brought me here. All you do is cut up an apple or two really thin slices and soak the slices in a bowl. In the bowl you squeeze the juice of one orange and one lemon (more if needed). Enough so that all the slices are covered. Put the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes-2 hours. SO GOOD.

The biggest thing that happened yesterday, was my little man turning 1. ONE!?!? How did that happen? Of course I had to take a few pictures ( by a few I mean like 175??) I got the idea for the pictures I took here. I loved the idea of 3 different pictures but that go together and have a message. Here are a few of the pictures I took. 

I think I got a few pretty good shots of him. I will have to get a few printed before his party to put out. Maybe even a few wallets or sizes for people to take at the party next weekend. Thank goodness I still have some time to decide which ones I want to use. But I think these turned out pretty well. I'm still a rookie photographer but I love capturing the moments. 

I recently decided I was going to put scrapbooking on hold, since I have no time and limited funds, but I wanted to have a way to display my photos from the last year besides the 10 picture frames. So I decided to make a family yearbook. I saw a deal on amazon for photo books at Photobin.com. So i started one. I am currently 100 pages in and am only at July in my pictures. Theres more work to be done. But I am excited to get it printed! :) I will post pictures of that when it's done! 

Time to get ready for the last Christmas Party of the year! Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. My new years resolution will have to be blogging more! 

Until next time,
-Amanda :) 

Stocking Stuffers

I was actually very excited about my first Christmas as a mom and an almost-wife. I thoroughly enjoy buying things for those I love, and have probably gone a little over board for one little boy this year. I know he is only going to be one...and he won't remember a thing. But I will. I would remember that I barely got him anything. So I got him quite a few things, and I got his daddy quite a few things too. 

Usually on Thanksgiving my family decorates the house for Christmas. With it being just Colton and I in the apartment, and very little money to spend on decorations, we only have  a few of the gel window clings in each room. Yup. That is the extent of my christmas decorations. It's actually a little depressing. So being the good mom I am, I bought stockings for us. It just wouldn't be Christmas without stockings. I didn't really think much about having to fill the stockings. I have been trying to come up with stuff to put in them, and I have gotten a few ideas from some other blogs through Pinterest. The one thing I never thought about, until now of course, was who gets to fill my stocking?? Then I realized...ME. That is so very sad. What's worse? I had more ideas of what to put in my stocking than my fiance's. 

Anyways, I wanted to make a list of ideas that I can use for years to come.

Baby Stocking Stuffers (these will be mainly boy items for the time being): 

1. Puffs (yeah those gerber puffs, all the kids I know love them, mine is no exception)
2. Toothbrush
3. Sippy cup
4. Snack container
5. Little cars
6. Balls (preferably ones that bounce, since those are his favorite right now)
7. Small books
8. Any type of snacks
9. Socks
10. Hat and mittens
11. Movies
12. Teething toys

Mommy Stocking Stuffers:

1. Make-up (eye-liner, mascara, lip stick, foundation, etc.)
2. Nail Polish
3. Hair accessories (bobby pins, headbands, clips, etc.)
4. Hand Sanitizer
5. Hair spray, moroccan oil, heat protector spray, shampoo, conditioner, sea salt spray (anything for the hair) 
6. Gum
7. Toothbrush
8. Giftcards
9. Socks
10. Tea 
11. Essential Oils
12. Travel sized stuff (mouthwash, hairspray, deodorant, hand sanitizer, etc)

Daddy Stocking Stuffers:

1. Gum
2. Candy
3. Cologne
4. Tie/bow-tie
5. Toothbrush
6. Gloves
7. Gift Cards
8. Golf balls
9. Mini Alcohol Bottles
10. Travel sized stuff

I am hoping to come up with many more ideas than this, stocking are pretty big! Hopefully will keep updating as I think. But it's finals time, and I should be studying (clearly that's why I am blogging!), so off to the land of productive people..I hope I'll make it there before my grades fall any further. ;) 

Until next time!

-A