New Traditions

This year I wanted all of us to make our own special Christmas ornaments. We've been so busy ever since I started my small home-cooked food business and I've been lucky that it's picked up so fast especially on the last week I'm open for business for 2015, that we've had to hold off making them. 

Hold off we no longer can because we're leaving on Friday! So glad I decided to push myself and commit to my biggest order yesterday instead of delaying it to this evening. So tonight, we were able to sit down at our dining table and make very big and very fun mess making out personalized ornaments.

The kids ended up with snow globes instead while husband and I made ours simple but very sentimental. We had only planned to give Zenon an option to make a snow globe instead but then husband came up with a great idea of using Zayden's "old" (only very recently did he stop using) Tommee Tippee baby bottle for the base. 

Zenon painting the small mason jar base for his snow globe.

We put red paint on Zayden's hand because we wanted his hand print on his snow globe. 

Zenon's snow globe with the mason jar base. He glued a Lego man inside and out some snow flakes in it so he's standing in snow. He painted the globe with a silver stripe with red running down the middle because he wanted it to look like a football helmet from his favorite college football team, The Ohio State Buckeyes. I found some letter charms in one of craft supplies drawers which he used to spell his whole name out. 😊

Zayden's baby bottle snow globe! We filled the bottled with snowflakes up to the 2 oz mark which is how much milk we used to have to make for him. We ran out of the letter "N" so we used "U" and turned it upside down. Make it work! 

 My snow globe is very simple but it has very thing that's so special to me in it --  husband's and my hospital bracelets when we had Zayden, beads and puff balls which Zayden gave me 2 years ago (He said to keep it with me for protection while I was in Secuirty Forces Augmentee duty), and a few things from husbands and my wedding, "Happily Ever After" charms, pink glitter and some beads.

Hisban's is decorated with all 4 of our handprints and he labeled Rachel one with paint -- his says, "Dad", mine says "Mom", Zenon's says "Z1" and of course Zayden's is labeled "Z2".

What Christmas traditions do you and your family have? 

An Ode to Fall

Winter weather slowly creeping into our sleepy little town. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy because we love Christmas and this will be our second baby's first ever Christmas. Sad because I just realized that my favorite season while in Texas is the fall. I have otherwise not had a favorite season. I love being able to walk our eldest to school every morning in this perfect fall weather. Sad because this year marked the end of my service, but happy because I'm lucky enough to be able to be a full-time Mom to our 2 boys, an ever-supportive wife ;) and at the beginning of November, a small home food business owner.

Thanksgiving Feast 2015

It's official, we now have a family Thanksgiving tradition. 

We get dressed nicely, making sure everyone looks their best. 

This is the one day during the year that we get dressed up and have a nice semi-formal sit down dinner at home.

I love dressing up! Besides, it also gives our 8-year old to get dressed up because he is our little GQ man. It's so cute seeing him happy walking out of his room showing off his outfit. He has actually asked for a suit to wear for school pictures! 

Aside from the clothes, Thanksgiving for us is a very special and unique day. We look forward to a hectic day of snacking all day while cooking a great feast to dine on for dinner. 

The husband, the father of the home, is in charge of making the turkey and owns the honor of carving the turkey. This is his second year of using the same recipe. A couple of tweaks here and there, both turkeys turning out perfectly, but this year's turkey more delicious than last with crispier and tastier skin. 

This year, we had twice the amount of food. I prepared a few things that I cooked for the first time ever and I am grateful they turned out really good. So good, we're keeping all of them as part of next year's Thanksgiving feast.

I put out a beautiful table scape and we sit down to dine.

For this Thanksgiving we tried out some new recipes -- all of them keepers. 

Here are the dishes we made.

Stuffing, more specifically Stuffing Muffins

I have never met a stuffing that I have truly had a liking for. The husband hasn't either. However, stuffing is a Thanskgiving staple so I wanted to try one more time.

Since I've been a SHM (stay-home mom) I'v been able to watch quite a bit of different cooking and home shows, including a Rev Run Thanksgiving special. They made this dish called "stuffing muffin" and although they didn't show much of it, they sold it as one of heir best dishes ever. They described what it was like and said it had sausage and corn bread in it. 

...SOLD!!!

I had to make it. It had the uniqueness that has been tickling my fancy these days with recipes I choose to try, AND, it had meat in it! We are definitely meat lovers in this family so having meat in the stuffing was the perfect ingredient to us loving stuffing. 

The recipe was easy and the ingredients weren't hard to find. Mos important of all, we loved it! Next time I'll use non-flavored sausage though. I only found Italian sausage and used that. The spices were just a little bit too strong four our little man, Zenon. 

Aside from that, I'll maybe add some crispy bacon and it will be perfect! Definitely a mainstay in our Thanksgiving spread.

For the recipe I simply googled, "Rev Run stuffing muffin". 

Cranberry Sauce 

My first western Thanksgiving was at my Lt's house. All the Airmen in our squadron were invited for Thanksgiving dinner at his house with him and his wife. That was when I found out that cranberry sauce is another sauce option to have with your turkey. I tried and didn't like it. I chalked it up to the fact that it was canned and not fresh. So I decided I won't decide not to dislike it completely just yet and try it again when I get the chance to try it when it's made with fresh cranberries.

I never got to until this Thansgiving when I finally decided to give it a try. 

So I googled to see if The Pioneer Woman, my favorite cooking show host, had a recipe for cranberry sauce. I used her recipe and the cranberry sauce turned out amazing! 

Unfortunately, I still don't like it with my turkey. I need to figure out what it will be good with because it is very yummy...maybe corn bread? 

I can always just have it on its own, too. Mmmm~~~....

Bacon wrapped asparagus

This is the only way I am able to make my 8-year old eat asparagus! How? Because bacon is awesome.

We are a family of bacon lovers so it was no surprise he loved it. 

This time instead of having individually wrapped asparagus, we did it in 3's. 

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I have a fool-proof, super easy recipe for for mashed potatoes and they turn out very creamy but when it gets cold it becomes clumpy. 

So this time I added cream cheese and a little bit of half-and-half, put it in a baking dish, put butter on top and popped it in the oven to brown the top. 

The very creamy texture of the mashed potatoes went perfectly with all the food we had made. 

Corn and green beans

My husband loves corn! I've liked corn a lot, too but I can't say I love it. Well maybe not before my husband and I got together. After we did, corn is a staple in our home.

A couple of months ago, I got lazy and didn't want to cook green beans and corn separately. So chopped up a couple of cloves of garlic and sautéed both green beans and corn in butter with some garlic together. It turned out tasting amazing. So from then on, it has been how I prepare these two veggies. 

Simple, easy, fool-proof deliciousness.

Pumpkin Spice Leche Flan

Leche flan is a creamy, custard-like, classic Filipino, Spanish-influenced dessert. 

I made this the day before Thanksgiving. I started a small home-made Filipino food and Filipino fusion food business this month. One of the Filipino dishes I offer is leche flan. 

Inspired by Thanksgiving and my love for Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte, I started to imagine what pumpkin spice flavored leche flan would taste like.

I make my leche flan with whole eggs so it's very creamy. I personally prefer the simple classic leche flan but since I already had an order for a couple of them  and my husband loves the pumpkin spice flavored one, I just made an extra one for us. It is thanksgiving after all so pumpkin spice is perfect.

Lastly, 

Turkey Lumpia

I changed my Turkey Lumpia recipe completely. I used to make it the same way I make my Pork Lumpia. They both turn out good, but the turkey didn't seem to shine as much. 

So this time, I experimented and voila! The flavor of the turkey definitely shined through! 

I tried making Cranberry Chili sauce using  a recipe I made in my head. The lemon was a little too overpowering but the husband said he likes it a lot. 

Sometimes I wonder if he ever dislikes anything I make! Although I remember him hating leche flan when I made it for the first time last year. 

He did not like the texture of the leche flan. Ooh, he hated it so much! It didn't help that he is not big into dessert. I don't know what happened this year but he has been converted into a leche flan lover!

This is our Thanksgiving feast. We added some salad to try to add something completely health so we can enjoy guilt-free food binging! We bought the fresh fruit pie from United Market Street and it is definitely fresh and amazing. I ate the whole the whole thing by myself over the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. Oops~~~

I had salad, too. See? Guilt-free! It works! 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of love, laughter and good food!  

Zenon's Nerf Battle 7th Birthday Party

Zenon wanted to have a Nerf themed birthday party for his 7th birthday. Andrew and I were going to try to convince him to pick a more simple theme. We were planning our wedding and had so many DIY projects for it, and to top that off, we had also just moved a month and half before his birthday.

Whew! We had so many things going on back then. I think I channeled my event coordinator skills and prevailed!

I changed my mind about it though and Andrew agreed that we had to do this theme now because we had so many boxes from our move that we could use to make forts, etc. We had to take advantage of the opportunity. talk about recycling and reusing! looking back now, I'm so happy we did it.

Our very good friends were able to help us with the venue. We even ended up with an amazing bonus -- a private "movie theater" for the kids! Since the Lego Movie just came out and it was all the craze, we picked this movie for after the party. 

The kids went crazy with all the Nerf guns we had and the massive amount of ammo we had ready for them to use that they had ignored the huge firetruck bounce house we had setup outside!

We encouraged guests to bring their own Nerf guns aside from the ones we already had to make sure every kid had a Nerf gun to use. 

There were 11 kids who attended Zenon's birthday which is amazing considering we only had 1 kid attend the year previous. This the challenge that every parent has to deal with when you have summer babies!

Here are some pictures of the big event!  

The birthday invitation!

DIY birthday banner and Nerf banners.

DIY birthday banner and camo cake from Walmart. The cake isn't the best but it turned out very must and tasted pretty good.

Give-aways! Tons of candy and random toys including crazy straws inside! 

Table setting. We bought small red and blue tin pails and glued Nerf logos we had printed out and stuffed all the candy and small toys we could in it for give-aways! They turned out pretty sweet! We also glued Nerf logos to the camo paper cups.

We found vests at the Dollar Tree. We got lucky that they had them at that time and luckier that they had 2 designs available. We were able to divide the kids into two groups to play a "Capture the Flag Nerf Battle"! The kids had so much fun! Behind the kids table were all the parents tables and behind those was the "game area" where we set up forts, etc. This set up allowed the parents to sit down and relax while still able to watch the kids run around and play. Some of the parents even got in on the action and started "shooting" at the kids with the extra Nerf guns!

DIY sharp shooter game using the box our dining table was in and some painted soda cans. 

The box was pretty big wasn't it???

Tiny trophies for the kids!

The forts and the tunnel in the middle. All our moving boxes that we spray painted! 

Kids hiding in the box tunnel!

DIY signs. So much ammo!!! The safety glasses were 3D glasses that we were able to ask for for free from the local Cinemark. They were brand new and still sealed in individual bags! Thank you!!!

Another DIY sign, this time for the banana split bar! Yay for ice cream!!!

Piñata!!!

So much candy!!!

Did someone say private viewing of The Lego Movie and popcorn??? 

The birthday boy!!!

As if that didn't spoil him enough, we also went to the local water park the day before his 7th birthday. His actual birthdate last year was a Monday so we had his party the Saturday before. 

What's a birthday without big party poppers??? Birthday celebration part 3 of 3, a.k.a. his actual birthday. 

Merry Christmas!!! I mean, merry birthday...happy birthday!!! Spoiled much???

After all the excitement, we stayed at home on his birthday for some quality Zenon- centered family time. 

Happy 7th Birthday Zenon!!!! 

Zenon's 8th Birthday

This year Zenon had a simple, all store-bought, no Mommy DIY birthday party. Since I had just given birth to Zayden two weeks prior to Zenon's birthday party, we had to go the easy route.

This year's party theme is Jurassic Park. Zenon wanted a Minecraft or a Skylanders birthday party but because our little town didn't have anything and we were preoccupied and too exhausted with last minute baby preparations, we didn't even think about ordering birthday supplies online. The local party store had Jurassic Park and since Zenon loved the movies he was happy with it.

It has always been so difficult to have guests at Zenon's birthday since we don't have family here, and most of his friends have military families like ours, his friends are usually away during the summer. We are always so grateful when even one kid shows up! This year Zenon had 3 friends attend his birthday. For a last minute party that's almost 3 weeks early, I think we did good by our baby. 

Zenon wanted to have his birthday while Grandma was visiting, thus the early birthday. 

We reserved a couple of tables and a lane at the bowling alley and had Zenon's Jurassic Park themed bowling party! 

Zenon and his newborn baby brother, Zayden who did very well at the party despite all the noise. 

Zenon has been wanting a brother for so long! Now you do love and you're such a good older brother! Happy birthday love! We are so proud of you!!!

2 weeks later, we had the chance to travel to Ohio to visit family so Zenon had a second birthday party that doubled as a bbq meet and greet the new baby, Zayden. As always, Grandma spoiled the kids and prepared a Skylanders themed party for Zenon and baked the cupcakes herself! 

Since we travel takes two days, we ended up on the road on Zenon's actual birthday. To make up for this, we planned a special stop at the Will Rogers Archway in Vinita, Oklahoma. There's a McDonald's there that's built over the highway so all the cars and tucks are passing under you while you're having a quick fast food break. It was pretty cool. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! 

Zayden: The Journey to 1 Month...and the Story of his birth

Why??? The days have gone by so quick and even if I am with you almost every second of every day I still feel like I missed everything!

Your daddy and I blinked and then you grew up on us! 

Zayden at 1 day and 1 month old!

Your facial features have changed so significantly! You definitely look so much like your Kuya (Older brother) Zenon and so much like your dad, too!

From Top L to R: Zayden, Mommy, Daddy and Kuya Zenon

I feel like there's some kind of parallel to the numbers coinciding with Zayden and Zenon's birthdays. 

I could also just be imagining it. Either way, we are just so happy you finally came.

The story of your birth

I was about to have you evicted early morning the day after I had you because you were already about 4 days late. I was scheduled to be induced the day after you were born. So you definitely got the eviction notice and left the womB as required. Good baby!

My water broke at around 11:30 a.m. and we finally made it to the hospital at 12:45 p.m. We had to make arrangements for your brother to stay with one of our co-workers. They admitted me and started the Potocin at around 2 p.m. I never had time to go on the liquid meal when I had your brother but I had to have it with you and boy, was Mommy hungry! I never got to have lunch that day. Thank goodness for beef broth and red jello! 

I had my epidural around 4 p.m. I've never had an epidural before either, and it was amazing! After a few hours at around 7 p.m., there you were!

We couldn't have skin-to-skin contact right away because they had to make sure you didn't ingest any of the nasty stuff since my water broke a while back. The nurses worked fast and they gave you to me as soon as they could. 

After that, they took you again to be checked, weighed, cleaned, etc. As soon as they took you, your dad left my side and followed you around like a puppy in love! 

The RN was concerned that you weren't a warm baby, literally. They wanted your temperature to be at 98 degrees but you were only just a little bit over 97 degrees which isn't bad. They just wanted you to be a little warmer, but because of that they couldn't give you a bath. They just wiped you down and got you as clean as they could.

Since you held your temperature consistently for more than 24 hours, they were satisfied and finally gave you a bath. I was so happy for you when they finally did! 

You were so cranky before that and the way you cried was so off. The timing was too random, too. I told your dad that if you're anything like me, you were feeling so icky at that time and that's why you've been a cry baby. Guess who was right all along??

You latched on quick and we didn't have any issues with breastfeeding. Although that didn't keep me from worrying that you weren't getting any milk. 

We stayed in the hospital for two nights. Your brother met you a couple of hours after you were born but he didn't stay with us that first night. 

Kuya Zenon stayed with us the second night at the hospital and we all left on the third day after you had passed your hearing test, getting your first set of vaccinations, and checking again to make sure we were both doing well with everything. The last thing was for the nurse to check to make sure we had a car seat installed in the car properly and then we were off! 

We didn't have any fancy pictures of you coming home. Sorry love. We were all just so exhausted and just so happy to be home with you!

Grandma comes to visit

Grandma came to meet you and spend time with you and your brother a couple of weeks after you were born. 

You loved being in grandma's arms and we finally got to sleep because of it! Thank you grandma! 

We celebrated Kuya Zenon's birthday early because he wanted Grandma to be there.

It was amazing having Grandma over because your Dad and I got some much needed sleep! Thank you!!!

We finally got to see Wichita Falls' claim to fame, The World's Littlest Skyscraper!

First Trip to Ohio 

Due to some complications with Dad at work, he couldn't take his paternity leave while grandma was here and had to go back to work. In the end, everything worked out for the best because when he finally was able to, a couple of weeks after grandma left, we were able to travel to be with dad's side of the family! 

It also helped to decide to go on a 14-hour drive divided into a 2-day trip, the fact that I was finally able to get my breast pump and that you had taken to formula feeding easily. We worried that you wouldn't like the bottle if I have it to you but that worry was pointless. As long as you were given your milk when you wanted it, everything was A-okay.

We had a little cooler with us so I could pump during the drive and I could give you formula while pumping, then on your next feeding give you the kill I had pumped. Every stop we made I made sure to hold you and cuddle you and give you time on the breast so you could get stretched out and I could comfort you. 

What completed the trifecta of making the decision to travel was that you had taken to the bottle so well.  We had decided to formula feed you because I wanted your dad to experience feeding you. 

It was amazing seeing your dad feed you. I know he fell so much more in love with you when he did, but he’ll never admit to that.

First stop for our 2 day travel.

Meeting family

We survived and made it to Ohio safely. With that experience we were able to plan our trip home better and decide where to stop for the night. 

Grandma invited everyone to a barbecue so everyone can meet you and to celebrate Kuya Zenon's birthday a second time! 

Summer is so nice there, especially when you're with family.

We celebrated your first month there, too! 

We wish we didn't have to leave but we had to and it was back to reality again. The good thing was we had a mother couple more months of summer to enjoy! 

Your first time at the pool! No swimming though, you didn't like the cold weather. You would've probably enjoyed it though if mom went into the water with you. Unfortunately I wasn't really up to it that time.

Your first bath!...and your photobombing brother!

You had a pretty bad case of cradle cap for a little while and I could not stop picking on your head! Your dad had to keep watch and ended up having to slap my hand whenever he catches me picking! 

Like every baby you lost some of your hair and you look like you have a bald spot. I'm hoping your hair grows back soon. Until now, I get to make fun of your grandpa and tell him this is his fault! 

Happy 1st Month baby boy! We love you!!!

Kuya Zenon has been waiting for you for so many years. He loves you so much!