– my sweet grandparents on this day o’ love.
my grandma, ruby, passed away just last week, so my dad’s family gathered in louisiana to celebrate her long life. we were sad, of course, but it’s always nice to see family. she and my grandpa, harry, had 5 children – who had 17 grandchildren – who had 17 great-grandchildren. that’s a lotta love. pretty amazing if you ask me, and it all stemmed from harry and ruby. here they are many moons ago.
that’s how old my teeny tiny newborn baby is – except he’s not so teeny tiny and he’s definitely not a newborn any longer. i hate how quickly he’s growing, but i love seeing him change and learn. lately, it seems to be something new each day. he’s now flipping over, both back to front and front to back, squealing {some might call it screaming}, and loves his feet. putting him to bed is my favorite time of day – jared is home and beckett gets super giggly. i’m still up with him about once a night, but he’s sleeping in stretches as long as 6 – 8 hours, which is heaven compared to the beginning.
he is officially mobile now. i laid him on his playmat the other day and went into the kitchen for a minute, and when i came back he had rolled 2 feet from where i had put him. he cannot be unattended any longer without putting him in a confined space. how did we get here so fast? i looked through some pictures today of when he was born and shortly thereafter, and he looked so tiny. sometimes when i pick him up from a nap, i could swear he’s gained 5 pounds and grown 4 inches from when i laid him down.
for you mamas with wee ones, enjoy every little second. it goes in a flash.
i was thumbing through the j. crew catalog the other night, and as usual, i want everything. as i went through cherry-picking the items that i would most love to have, i found that i have a real thing for stripes and plaids. when i was young, i only wanted to wear solid colors, and i can remember, in high school, my mom telling me that she was “not going to buy me anything else that was so plain”. i loved my simple t-shirts then, but now i appreciate a great pattern and fabulous accessories. here are a few items that are on my wish list…
i know these are little girl’s shoes, but i think i could squeeze my feet into them.
jambalaya, that’s what. my dad was born and raised in louisiana, and growing up, we visited often. i would always look forward to the seriously delicious cajun food, and still today, the scent of cooking up the trinity (bell peppers, onions, celery) takes me there immediately. i have always been intimidated to try my hand at a cajun dish because i never thought i could do it justice, but for some reason i got the itch to make jambalaya and i’m so glad i did. it was E-A-S-Y and it turned out great! i followed this recipe…
1 lb smoked sausage cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb chicken breast cut into quarter-sized pieces
3 T cajun seasoning
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 – 2 cloves garlic
2 – 3 cups cooked rice
2 – 3 cups chicken broth
the night before you plan to make this, sprinkle the 3T of cajun seasoning in a plastic zipper bag with the cut up chicken and sausage (if you’re short on time, 30 min – 1 hr will do the trick!).
brown the sausage and chicken in a big pot. pull the meat out of your pot and set aside, but leave the drippings. then sauté the onions, pepper, celery, and garlic. add the sausage and chicken back to the pot, and also add the rice at this time. pour in your chicken broth for moisture as desired (i used about 2 1/2 cups). hit the pot with more cajun seasoning if you like or a bit of tabasco if you like it spicy!
serves 4 – 6
like much of the country, kansas city got blasted with snow yesterday. though we got over a foot, it appears we got off pretty easy compared to lots and lots of others. as we looked out the big window in our family room yesterday, it felt like we were somewhere in the mountains, and that got me thinking….about actually having a home in the mountains. it would be heavenly to look out a big picture window and watch fat snowflakes fall or to hit the slopes from a ski in-ski out place in the rockies. all wishful thinking, of course, but a quick visit to mountain living’s website gave me a few photos that would make me want a place in the mountains even more.
these first photographs are from the same home. there’s that big picture window, and how cozy to be surrounded by those gigantic evergreens. the kitchen, dining and hearth rooms all flow into one another in their open plan. i’d like to get a pot of soup going and then park right in front of that fabulous fireplace.
this library is the perfect mix of rustic and polish. love the cut wood at the bottom of the bookshelves, and that cognac chair is calling my name.
we enjoyed a snow day as a little family yesterday. jared’s office was closed and we watched movies and played with beckett.
hope you’re staying warm in your neck of the woods.
this is me. a wife, stay-at-home-mom, lover of interior design, photography, fashion, cooking, sewing, and all things fueled by creative thinking. a person with a need to keep learning, going, doing and a self-proclaimed champion nester (this didn’t just strike me during pregnancy!), i’m always looking for a project to keep me busy and keep my little brain happily buzzing.
stay tuned for home before and afters, tutorials for easy at-home projects, pretty pictures, and other things that keep me pleasantly distracted.
wishing you the happiest of new years. here’s to a fresh start for all of us!
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