Chelsea's 15 month professional pictures!

About a month ago, Ben and I noticed that the pictures on our walls were already so outdated!  We had some professional pictures taken when Chelsea was 8 months old and she has changed SO MUCH since then!  If you haven't seen Chelsea for awhile, you  may want to plan a visit with our darling daughter sometime soon ;)

The photographer we had used in the past is no longer taking pictures and we had no clue who to hire.  Our friend Andi's brother takes all her pictures so I asked him if he'd be willing to take some pictures for us.  Not only did he take pictures for us, but he took them within two weeks of us asking and had the pictures to us only two weeks after that!  We are very happy with the pictures.  Unfortunately, Chelsea was a little pill that day and did NOT want to smile for the camera.  Even with her temperament, Adam was able to capture some great pictures. 

Here are some of the pictures.  Enjoy!

First Movie!

One thing that Ben and I REALLY miss is seeing movies in the theater together.  We used to go all the time Pre-Chelsea.  We've only been to two movies together since she has been born due to the fact of not really having family / babysitters in town to watch Chelsea so we can go out.  It is what it is and we've gotten used to it. 

Chelsea absolutely loves cartoons so we thought that we'd bring her to see the Lorax in hopes that it wasn't a massive failure.  We brought her last weekend to the Plymouth Theater.  Since the Lorax has been out for a long time already it wasn't very busy.  Chelsea did GREAT for the first hour.  She would stand on our laps and grab for the seat back in front of her to get a closer look.  She would also bop up and down and squeal when music was played.  Towards the end of the movie she started getting fussy.  Ben walked her around the back of the theater for a few minutes and that seemed to calm her down to watch the remaining part of the movie. 

Hopefully we can take her to another movie sometime in the near future.  Even though cartoons aren't usually my first choice of movie when I plan to go to the theater, I'll take what I can get!

This picture was taken during the previews.  I didn't want to take pictures during the movie because I didn't think the other movie goers would appreciate the flash :)

Rotisserie Style Crockpot Chicken AND a SUPER CUTE video of Chelsea!!

I tried out two new crock pot recipes on Sunday for dinner.  THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!  I've always wanted to try cooking a whole chicken in the oven ... isn't every 'domestic goddess' supposed to be able to?! ;)  Stumbling upon this recipe gave me the kick in the butt that I needed to attempt cooking a whole chicken.  I LOVE, and I mean LOVE, Rotisserie chicken.  I can't walk by the warmers displaying the chickens in the grocery store without picking one up.  It's definitely a guilty pleasure of mine.

SO - I will post pictures of my meal and the recipe below. If you like chicken this is a must try!  I was pleasantly surprised by the price of buying a whole chicken and how much meat you get from it.  It's a very inexpensive meal and what could be easier than a crock pot?  I served crock pot sweet potatoes along side the chicken.  The leftovers were perfect for a dinner of white chicken chili tonight and I will post that pic and recipe as well.  The white chicken chili is one of my 'go to' recipes and is amazingly (in my opinion!) good.

BUT FIRST.. here is a super cute (I think one of my favorites to date!) video of Chelsea.  We just finished up eating dinner on Sunday and she is in a super playful mood.  Maybe it was because the chicken was so good :-)

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3IBSXZrdMM

 

 

Seasonings for the Chicken

The chicken breast side down in the crock pot.  I didn't think you needed to see the pictures of the raw chicken minus the skin and spices... not the most attractive picture

Spices for the sweet potatoes

Rub the sweet potatoes with the spices (chili powder, kosher salt, cumin) and wrap up in foil.  DO NOT add water to the crock pot.  Cook on high for 6 hours.

Dinner will be ready in 7-8 hours!

YUM!  The chicken was literally falling off the bone in the crock pot.  It was so tender and flavorful.

Finished sweet potatoes

Chelsea is ready to eat!

YUM!

A picture of dinner tonight... the crock pot chicken leftovers used in a white chicken chili

Here are the recipes





Here is the link to the white chicken chili  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/white-chicken-chili-recipe/index.html

 

Rotisserie – Style Chicken (crock pot)

1 (5-6 pound) whole chicken. (I think i used a 7 pound chicken and it still cooked within 7-8 hours)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 whole garlic cloves

1 yellow onion, quartered

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Skin the chicken and get rid of the bag of 'stuff' in the cavity. I did skin the chicken and it took about fifteen minutes. It's well worth the time it takes.

In a bowl, combine the salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, Italian seasoning and cayenne and black pepper. Rub the mixture all over the bird, inside and out. If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and quartered onion inside the bird. Tie the legs together with a piece of twine or string. Plop the chicken breast-side down into the slow cooker. Do NOT add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8 hours. (I cooked mine on low for 7 hours and it was literally falling off the bones in the crock pot). the longer you cook it the more tender the meat will be.

 

 

15 month's!

Chelsea turned 15 months old today!  Where has the time gone?!  It's amazing how fast my baby (can, I still call her that?!) is growing up.  She had her 15 month routine doctor appointment today.  Chelsea weighs 22 lbs 15 ounces (50th percentile) and is 31 1/4 inches tall (75th percentile).  The doctor is very happy with her health and her development and has no concerns. 

Two vaccinations were also given today and it's the first time she has ever reacted from the shots.  She slept most of the day, barely ate and had a temp of 101.5.  I called the nurse line and they are not concerned with her temp and said it is fairly  normal.  Hopefully she is back to her normal, perky self tomorrow.  It's absolutely no fun to see my babe laying on the floor lethargic all afternoon long when she normally can't sit still for more than ten seconds. 

Chelsea napped from 2:30-4:30.  When she woke up I held her for a half an hour and then set her down on the floor.  This is how she ended up for the next hour :(

She thought about getting up, but then decided against it!

We set her on the couch for her 'Facetime Date' with grandma and grandpa Fisher. 

Laundry baskets are so much fun!

Chelsea LOVES to help me with the laundry!  When I ask her if she wants to help me with the laundry, she will immediately run to the laundry room :)  She loves watching the clothes spin (front loaders), closing the doors of the machines and taking socks from the washer and put them in the drier.  When I bring the clean clothes out to fold, she immediately starts taking the clothes OUT of the basket (not very helpful) and loves to push the basket all over the house.  If I give her a laundry basket she'll push it all over the house until I take it away from her.

The other day I caught her stuck UNDER the laundry basket.  At first she just sat there and then proceeded to 'freak out' a bit and start crying.  I was going to 'save her' by taking the basket off of her, but instead took out the camera and decided she needed to figure out a way to get herself out of the basket on her own.  It only took her about a minute or two and she did it!

Chelsea's Boyfriends!

My friend, Diana, has twin boys just a tad bit younger than Chelsea.  They were in the same ECFE class last session, are in the same Library reading session, we are in the same MOM's group and have had a couple play dates now.  They all seem to get a long wonderfully!  It's so much fun to get them together and just see what they do!  I took some pictures of our last play date.  We were at my house and fed the kiddos some Mac N Cheese and cupcakes before letting them loose in a roomful of toys :-)

Yum Yum cupcakes!

Mommy, I don't like dogs :(

If one babe wanted to play with a toy, the other two felt the need play with the same toy as well!

Chelsea discovered her belly button on this day.  She now shows it to me when I ask her.