Still posting

Hey all....do me a favor and leave me a comment if you still check the blog. I wanna make sure I am not just doing this blog just for myself. :)

Gracias to all of Kiera's little followers.

Christmas with Kiera

Videos for your pleasure. :D

It is about that time to get the little on into the climbing gym. She went up the climbing wall at least 20 times...and no I'm not exaggerating! She is such an athletic girl!

Kiera has had this little tricycle for over a year now and she is just now wanting to try and she basically got it on the first couple of tries! :D

We went out for a bit of chinese and Kiera desired to try eating her food with chopsticks just like mommy so we got her the kiddie chopsticks and she had a blast!

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

9 potatoes, cubed
1/2 c diced carrots
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/2 c diced celery
3 can chicken broth (14 oz ea)
1 tbsp parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
5 tbsp flour
1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)

Combine all ingredients in crock pot EXCEPT flour and cheese. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until potatoes are done. 1 hour before serving add cheese, 1/2 hour before serving add flour.

This is the recipe exactly as it appeared on the Pioneer Woman website but I think that the next I make it I would make a couple of adjustments. The soup was thick, thick, thick and so next time just do 3 tbs of flour rather than 5. And I think that the soup could've handled 1 cup of diced carrots AND diced celery, their taste got lost on the potatoes....poor carrots, poor celery...dontcha feel a little bad for them?? So next time, we will represent those little veggies a bit better. :D Otherwise, it was a fantastic soup and it made it into my cookbook, which means a lot. Many have strived to be in "The Cookbook" but many have failed.

Kinda like a bad version of American Idol.

I digress......anyway, enjoy the recipe. Ta ta!

Diapers - 0 Potty - 1

Finally little Kiera has learned how to use the potty. *round of applause please* I wanted her to be potty trained before now but my second wish of her at least being potty trained before age 3 has been fulfilled!
I tried the whole - let's try to go potty while continuing to use her diapers/pull-ups and yeah, well, that didn't work. Why go to all the work to get the diaper off when she could just stand and pee?? So, I decided to go cold turkey on the diapers; date: March 14, 2011. She had only little kid panties on with no pants and played all day that way. It only took one time of peeing down her leg that she found out she needed to use the potty - she's a bit of a princess (which we love) and HATES to be dirty. I mean the kid doesn't even like having pen marks on her hands...... Anyway - since that time she has been potty trained with only one other accident. I have to say, my baby girl is a quick learner!

Photos

I love this photo for many reasons. The top two are: (1) It is a picture of my daughter taking a picture of me with her camera. I hope she learns to love taking pictures and documenting her life journey and (2) this is documentation that I have indeed left up the christmas stockings until the end of February.

365 Project

Life is short and memories fade so...... I am starting my 365 project. That way, I can remember even the smallest things that meant so much to me each day. :)

Here is the link for a little more information about the 365 Project:
http://365project.org/

Here is the link to my 365 Project. :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriele/

Orange-ya glad....

....you know this cutie. Kiera LOVES oranges. She was snacking away and then I found her walking around with one in tow. Got just this one photo before she stopped, glad I got it. Enjoy. :D

Snuggie

I usually try to wash Kiera's beloved snuggies one at a time so that she can always have one on hand. This time, it didn't go as planned. Both snuggies needed to be washed DESPERATELY, so I thought to myself, 'self, she doesn't go down for her nap for another 4 hours so that should be enough time to sneak them away from her and wash them'. Yeah, I should've known. That girl knows all. I try to distract her but she quickly realized that the snuggies were not by her side. Next thing I know, Kiera is running around looking every where yelling, "snuggie!" "snuggie!". So, I take her to the washing machine/dryer and showed her that her snuggies were being washed so that they were nice and clean but promised that they would be out soon. Well, I don't know if she didnt believe me or just wanted to keep a close on her precious snuggies (yes, almost gollum like.....) but she stood in front of that washing machine for 30 minutes! And anyone who has had a 2 year old or has babysat a 2 years old, knows that that is some serious stretching of the attention span. I was able to catch her on video and pictures. She is really the most adorable thing ever and can always bring a smile to my face!

Bedtime Story

Every night before bed, we would read her a bedtime story or two, just to calm Kiera and for her routine. That girl LOVES routine! After a while, she became more interested in holding the books while we told her a story and then not long after that, she wanted to tell us the stories. One of Kiera's favorite books is a book of nursery rhymes. So, when we told the story we would actually sing the song. When Kiera took over the bedtime story telling, she did the same. Here is a video of her story time. She seriously is the cutest kiddo on the planet!

New baker in the house

While my mom was visiting for Christmas this year, we baked up a storm! I think that we spent most of our time in the kitchen.... This year was exceptionally fun because we had an additional baker to help us with the grueling tasks of rolling out the dough, cutting out cookie, shapes and the ever hated....taste tester. Which Kiera GLADLY took on that role. :D
She is the cutest thing in the world and absolutely loved being in the kitchen with us making cookies!

Painting

Last month, Kiera visited her Nana and Pop-Pop for a week of spoiling. In preparation, my mom picked up a "few little things" for baby K's visit. One of the items was a painting easel. I don't think Kiera and I had even been in the house for more than a few minutes and she was already pointing at the easel, 'pees', 'pees'. So, my mom got her set up with the cutest little bitty smock and away Kiera went. She was a natural and absolutely LOVED painting. I already knew the Kiera loved to draw and color so it goes to figure that she would love painting as well.....I need to get her signed up for an art class. ;) Here are a few pictures and video of her first time painting as well as the finished product. Enjoy!