Baby It's Cold Outside

As most of the state of Georgia now knows, we received close to 9 inches on snow in little Watkinsville a couple of weeks ago. WOW!!!I have never seen a town shut down for a whole week, but it did. After throwing out my back, Dutch called Tifton for reinforcements and they came! Little did Mimi and Papa George know when they got here on Saturday night, they would be snowed in until Thursday!! It was wonderful having them here so I could recover (Sarah Beth was not really allowing that) but we learned very quick how small is our house. That was the most snow my parents had ever seen. Dad and I built a small snowman on the back yard table while mom held Sarah Beth outside for all of about 10 minutes; her cheeks started getting pink. Then Dutch came home from work and we went to Harris Shoals Park to sled. Still being medicated, I just watched while they sledded but watching them was priceless. They both had a ball! I was absolutely amazed at the amount of snow. Some places still had snow on the ground a week later!

After being snowed in, we have been trying to get back to normal. Sarah Beth had her 6 month doctors appointment. She is growing like a week. She weighs 16 lb, 7 oz. and is 27 in long. She is now as long as the average 9 month old. She definately has her dad in her! We also took her to the nursery at church for the first time last Sunday and had the first non family member baby-sitter. Neither of which phased her. She is such a ham that as long as someone is giving her attention she does not care who it is.

We also had some friends over for the Falcons - Green Bay game. Even though the game was a disaster, we finished the night of with the new Xbox dancing game - Dance Central. I think Ashley and I could have dance battled all night long, but we eventually had to call it a night.

The Athens - Banner Herald is publishing a crock pot recipe a week. I have a crock-pot but don't use it enough so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get some use out of it. The first recipe was Girlfriend Chicken Tacos, which were amazing so I decided to post the recipe.

Girlfriend Chicken Tacos
6 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast
2 Cups Water
1 cube Korr's tomato buillon with Chicken flavor
1 package Taco Seasoning (I used McCormacks)

Combine Water, buillon and seasoning in pot. Stir to mix.
Add chicken, stir to coat.
Cook on low 7-8 hours
Shred chicken and stir to coat. Cook 30 minutes to flavor.

Place in taco shell. Garnish with tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream and cheese.

This recipe was so easy to make and was incredible. We of course used it for tacos, but have used the leftovers for quesadillas and taco salad. It has been a great hit!!! This week is Beef Bergundy. I will let you know how it goes.

On a different note, it has come to my attention that the settings on the blog would not allow comments. Now it does. So feel free to comment. This is still a learning experience for me!

Much Love, MB

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! It it officially 2011. 2010 was a roller coaster. We spent New Years at home since Dutch had to work over the weekend, but could not have asked for a better celebration. Dutch grilled out and I got my bake on. I truly enjoy baking and have not done any of it since Sarah Beth arrived. It is one of the ways I "get away." So, I baked a homemade pound cake and homemade vanilla icecream (thanks to a Christmas gift from my high school friend Abbey) with fresh cut strawberries. My mom use to cut up strawberries to make with shortcake and I decided to attempt this but with the pound cake. Everything was great. The key to good strawberries according to my mother is to add a little sugar after you cut them and let them sit in the fridge The sugar reacts with the strawberries and makes them juice up. It is amazing. All I had was splenda but luckily, it worked just as well. We ate on our fine china. I believe fine china should be used and will come up with any reason to use it. We rang in the new year from our couch. Dutch and I were both amazed at Dick Clark, still counting down after all these years. While eating we discussed our favorites of 2010. Sarah Beth being born did not count because that was obvious. We both agreed that our first family trip to the beach was the best thing we did. We were able to enjoy Sarah Beth and get back to where we were. We both needed the trip. While 2010 has definately been the craziest year for us, we are looking forward to all 2011 will bring.

This past week has been quite interesting however. I have had my first on the job injury after only 5 months at my "new" job. I have thrown my back out. I am finally almost back to normal from child birth and my back goes out. I just laughed when the doctor told me. Dutch did not however. Sarah Beth has spent lots of time with me in the bed and on the couch and Dutch has taken over the housekeeping. I now feel like I am back in college. I joke that he has turned the house into a frat house. He went to Sams the day I went to the dr as soon as I told him I was out of commision for the week. He bought a weeks worth of frozen foods for us to eat since I can't cook. Thats right...frozen pizza, frozen pasta, bagel bites, hot pockets you name it. But do not fear, Dutch knowing my need to have greens on every plate bought a massive bag of salad and frozen broccoli and cheese. He has also bought tons of paper products...plates, bowls, cups, etc. This was his answer to me not being able to bend to load and unload the dishwasher. He also discovered the huge tubs of formula at Sams and Sarah Beth is not without food for a while. Sams was definately a successful trip for him. He has however completely taken over the house and will not let me do anything. He is being an excellent nurse and I definately love him for that! As soon as I am back I will be doing as he has told me 20 times this week and "using my knees not my back" to do work. Hope you had a wonderful new year and enjoy the pics of Sarah Beth and the end of our 2010!

Much Love,
MB

Brinson carrying Sarah Beth around Athens after Teensy's graduation


Sarah Beth's first cell phone


First Christmas morning


After Christmas morning


Sarah Beth's first snow... and it was a christmas snow!