Happy Easter!

This Easter we planned a low key get-together with some great friends at our house. I can honestly say this is one of the best Easter's I've ever had! Not that Easter's past were bad, but this one was special because it was "our" family making new memories and hopefully, new traditions. 

We started the day off by letting Taylor open her Easter basket. Well, she actually went and found it and made us give it to her!

Then Daddy helped her uncover all the goodies inside!

At 11, our friends arrived and everyone was starving, so we sat down to eat. In true Taylor fashion, she had a melt down and ended up taking her nap early. Unfortunately I didn't think about snapping pics of our fabulous meal until after everyone had eaten, so the photos aren't that great, and there wasn't much food left. 

These egg cakes are a part of my childhood, and now, I want to make them part of Taylor's. Every Easter we would go camping with our neighbors and their grandma would make these. They were the most delicious amazing cakes I had ever eaten. They were so kind to share the recipe and now I can make them for Taylor. Another post on this later!

Double blueberry muffins! Soooo good! 

Cabbage and Potato Hash... this was all that was left!

Veggie Frittata!

Jordan drinking mimosas courtesy of Brandie and Dallas

There were also delicious pancakes Whitney made, but by the time I got my camera out they were all eaten!

The egg hunt is about to begin!

Porter found one!

Reiser must see an egg!

Lots of eggs in Reiser's basket!

Whitney with the kids

Pretty Marley

Sadly, Taylor woke up after the fun was over. Later in the day we headed over to Jordan and Whitney's for some Austin's pizza. Taylor took a slice home and ate it like a big girl for the first time. These are the only other photos I took of her today!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Fainting

When Taylor was a baby she would get so upset and hold her breath when she was crying. I'm talking about that type of cry where the mouth is opened, the face is beat red, and no sound is coming out. 

Taylor, 1 month old

A friend of mine who had a baby 3 months before Taylor told me that her friends little girl cried like that one time and fainted! The doctor said it is very common and probably won't be the last time. Ever since she told me I've always wondered with Taylor if this is the cry that is going to cause her to faint. 

Honestly, I thought we passed that stage because she doesn't really cry like that anymore. 

That is until today. It's been one of those days where nothing makes her happy. Something (I still don't know what) made her so mad that she screamed until nothing was coming out. I quickly realized that this was probably the longest she had ever held her breath for and maybe this was the "time." I picked her up and started blowing in her face (which has always worked). She quickly took a breath, cried, and then went limp in my arms. I saw her eyes roll in the back of her head, and then like that, she came too. It was only a matter of seconds, but I remember it so vividly.

Everyone keeps asking if I was freaking out, or crying. No, I wasn't. I was very frazzled and extremely concerned about the health of my daughter, but part of me has always expected this to happen. I think the fact that I remained calm helped Taylor to not freak out. 

Taylor is doing fine and probably doesn't even know what happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again! Even though I've always expected it, that doesn't make any less scary!

Feeling Green

So my farm box is loaded with GREENS!!! This is great for me since I try to follow a clean eating diet. Including lots of greens is very important. I've been researching recipes online and came across one for collard greens that sounded delicious. Lucky for me I had all other ingredients on hand so I was able to create a wonderful side to accompany some chicken. 

These really are delicious! If you've never cooked collard greens before then give them a try! You won't be disappointed!

Here is the recipe I found on healthy-endeavors.com

Collard Greens w/Carmelized Onions, Raisins and Walnuts

Ingredients:

2 bunches fresh collard greens

2 large onions

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. raisins

small handful of walnuts

salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Wash collard greens, pat dry and cut from the stalk.  Lie several leaves on top of each other, roll up like a cigar and slice into 1/4″ strips. Chop strips into smaller pieces.

2. Slice onions into half crescents.

3. In large skillet, heat olive oil and saute onions on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until sweet, making sure not to burn them.

4. Add collard greens and saute for approximately 10 minutes until wilted.

5. Add raisins and walnuts and cook another 1-2 minutes.

6. Add salt, to taste.

(please excuse the quality of the photo, as it was taken with my iphone)

Since Paul was out of town I cut the recipe down. I only used half the collards I had, a quarter of an onion, a few walnuts, and a handful of raisins (maybe a little extra).  If you try them leave a comment and let me know what you think!

First Farm Box

Yesterday I picked up my first farm box... thank goodness because I have been dreaming about it since last Thursday! Crazy, huh!?!

Here's a picture from the Johnson's Backyard Garden website of everything included in our box this week. 

Everything comes tightly packed in a box. I also ordered a dozen eggs and some coffee

Whitney and I couldn't pick up our boxes until 4:30, so by the time I got home it was a little late to start on a creative dinner from the box, so I used a few items to throw together a quick salad. 

Items I used from the box were salad mix, carrots, and radishes. Can I just say that these carrots are delicious! I can't wait to try everything else!

City Center

Two weekends ago Paul got tickets to the final four in Houston, so off we went. He took my brother-in-law to the game, and I got to hang out with my mom, sister, and babies. One day we headed over to City Center for lunch and to watch the Dog Festival. Taylor had so much fun, as did all of us. I stole these pictures straight from my sister's blog, A Wonderful Little Life. Check it out!

Jackson likes Tay Tay's hamburger

yummy

Tay Tay likes the balls

she loved this doggie with the flower

bye bye doggie

Tay Tay couldn't wait for her balloon.  Then when the clown handed it to her she said no!

these dogs were awesome!

wonder what they are talking about

so funny!  She would just stop and dance.  She dropped it like its hot

Jackson doesn't look to happy.  It was nap time but there was too much going on o sleep!

yummm cupcakes!

Let the dog parade begin!

All dogs go to heaven

Easter Egg Hunt

My friend Whitney invited us to an Easter egg hunt today at Rollingwood Park. Taylor had so much fun running around, playing on the playground, hunting for eggs, and eating sweets! Holiday's really are more fun with little ones!

Stones

I could drag this story out and bore you with every fine detail (which I'm more than happy too do) but you probably would quit reading, so I'll keep it short and sweet.

Last week when I took Max for a walk I noticed blood in his urine (yes, I got all up in his business to make sure I did see blood).  I took him to the vet the following day so they could take a sample of his urine and see if he had some sort of infection. They thought it was most likely a urinary tract infection. They did an exam and said everything looked fine and they would get back to me once they got the results back. 

Turns out he had crystals in his urine (???HUH???) and they needed to do an x-ray of his bladder to check for stones as well as check his prostrate. OMG... freaking out!!! Something major could be wrong with my first born!!!

this photo suggests that Max doesn't feel well and is in pain, but he's not. I just thought it was cute that he was all curled up in Taylor's chair

X-ray came back and sure enough he has bladder stones, but everything else is fine! Thank you Thank you Thank you! In the past, the only way to remove large stones (as in Max's case) is through surgery. Fortunately veteranarians have come up with a special dog food that will shrink the stone in 90% of cases and allows the dog to either pass the stone, or they can remain in the bladder. 

Great, easy fix, right?!? The doc said he can't have any treats or food other than this dog food. I immideatly pointed to the little rug rat in the corner and said that's going to be a problem (Taylor loves feeding Max). Doc said that is going to have to stop if we want to help Max. 

So I said ok, lets do this. 

Next question: How long does he need to be on this special diet?

Answer: FOREVER!!!

Really?!?

My dog lives for his treats! If you forget to give him his bone after he comes inside from a potty break he wants back out so he can come back in again so you will realize you forgot his treat!

Needless to say it's been hard watching him run over to the treat cabinet, but in time I know he will learn he's not getting one. Now I have to make sure I really watch Taylor when she has food, which is more of a pain than anything. I'm sure it's ok if he gets a piece here and there, but I'm trying really hard. We go back in 3 months to do another set of x-ray's to see if they have shrunk. I will let you know the results!