Halloween with the Skeens!

Last year at this time, we had a itty-bitty 5 week old. This year we have an adorably sweet 13 month old!  My, how time flies!  We started off the festivities yesterday at Craig and Alee's house for a halloween cookout for our kiddos!

A few pictures of our Kitty before the party!

5 month old Reese, an adorable owl

Aiden 6 months, Puppy dog!

Sophie 14 months, another puppy!

Getting ready for school this morning!

Armed with some candy for our trick-or-treaters!

 Ready to go Daddy!

Went around the neighborhood with Karah and Ryan and their little boy Jack. He was prince charming! Check out how freakin' cute my baby is....

A quick video - we have a walker!

30 years young

Brandon turned the big 3-0 last week.  I decided to have a small suprise birthday dinner for him this past Friday night to celebrate at Melting Pot, one of our favorites!  In all, there were 10 of us and we had a great time! 

Brandon had no idea about the dinner party.  He thought it was just going to be the 2 of us and he picked Melting Pot.  I talked with friends and made reservations for our group for 8:00 pm.

Then Friday came.  Off to work per usual, picked up Hadley on the way home, and my mom met us at our house as she was going to babysit.  Brandon knew our reservations weren't till 8:00, so we just hung out with Hadley and gave her a bath before we left.  Around 7:40, Brandon was ready to go!

We are very punctual so he was a little annoyed that I continued to dilly-dally around the house until about 7:50 or so.  We finally left and I told him I needed to go to Walgreens - he was less than thrilled about a stop before dinner.  But I wanted to buy a little time.  And I go to grab my phone and text our friends and realize I left my cell at home.  I told him to turn around, that I forgot my phone.  He did not want to turn around....but I told him I had to have it!  So we turned around and I got my phone.  We ended up getting downtown around 8:15 which was perfect and walked into the restaurant.  I told the hostess we had reservations for 2 under Skeen.  She smiled (huge smile!) and showed us to our table.

Surprise!

He was surprised when he saw everyone, especially since the other 4 couples have little ones at home as well (4 months to 14 months in age).  A big thank you to everyone that came (and your parents for babysitting)!

13 months!

Hadley turned 13 months this past Friday.  Stop.growing.up.please!

• Size 3 diapers
• Wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes. The tops fit her nicely, but the pants are too big/long.
• Can take several steps by herself!  So terrified of the bumps and bruises that are sure to happen now our baby girl is really mobile!
• Sleeping 11-12 hours at night. Bedtime around 7:30 and up at 7:00 during the week.  She slept in until 8 this weekend which was a treat for all in the Skeen household!
• Vocabulary includes: ma-ma, da-da, da-dee, tank-ew (thank you), uh (uh-oh which we are working on teaching her...only the first syllable has stuck though), Ri-ey (Riley, our pup), sh (shoe), baby, bye-bye,
• Can sign "more" and "please."
• Great shopper. She loves to touch all the clothes on the rack as she strolls by in the buggy or her stroller, and especially loves the shoe store!
• Loves wearing shoes!  Any shoe she sees (her own, daddy's, mommy's), she tries to put them on.
• Still a great eater, not the biggest drinker.  Trying to get 15 oz of milk in her per day is a struggle.
• Talking one nap per day now (noon-2). This was a daycare change that we have also made at home.  The first couple of weeks were difficult, but she is doing good on her new schedule.  She normally falls asleep on the way home though :)
• Still not a big TV person. I would love for her to watch a little TV so I can do laundry, but overall I'm fine with her not watching TV.  I'm sure that will change soon enough!
• Likes 'helping' me with the laundry. I've learned to give her a little basket with washrags and bibs to play with while I'm folding the clean laundry.  She puts them all in, takes them all out, repeat a few dozen times!  She's going to be quiet domestic I believe!
• Has 9 teeth (6 on top and 3 on the bottom)
• Bobs her head to the music in the car. Hilarious!
• If you say "what do the doggie say" she says "woo woo" (woof woof).  Will work on the cat next!
• If you say "where is your head?" she points to her head. If you say "where is your nose?" she also points to her head, haha!  Working on nose and tummy currently!
• Does not like to swing in the baby swing on the playground in our neighborhood. We've tried 4-5 times and each time she cries. I've been dying to get a cute picture of her swinging, smiling, and laughing, but the girl is not having that swing!
• Loves walks in the neighborhood. The weather has been great after work the past several weeks for family strolls.  This may be one of the last weeks of nice weather, so hopefully we can take advantage before it gets too cold.

Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce

Brandon and I made this delicious recipe. I seriously cannot believe it is a weight watchers recipe...it is freakin' delish!!  We will most definitely be making this again!  We made the sauce and filling Wednesday evening after Hadley was asleep, and then assembled and baked last night for dinner when we got home from work.  This was another pinterest find but here is the website: http://www.skinnytaste.com/

Chicken and White Bean Filling:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced white onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 15.5 oz can Navy beans (or Cannellini beans)
• 8 oz cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1/3 can water
• 1 chicken bullion
• 1 tsp cumin

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth
• 7 oz can chopped green chile
• 2 jalapeños, chopped (I used part of a can of diced jalapenos)
• salt
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 3/4 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese
• 8 medium low carb tortillas (I used gluten free corn tortillas)
• chopped fresh cilantro or scallions (or both!)

For the Filling:
In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low. Add onions, garlic and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add green chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Mix well and cover. Simmer on low 15 minutes. Remove cover, add chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until it thickens and liquid boils down. Set aside.


Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:
In a large nonstick pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Whisk until the sauce becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Add green chiles, jalepeños, and salt to tatse. Cook another minute then remove from the heat. Stir in the sour cream.


Spread about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup of the chicken/white bean filling. Roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling remainder of the tortillas.


Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese. Cover with aluminum and bake 20-30 minutes at 375, until the enchiladas are hot and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with fresh cilantro or scallions.

You got BOO'ed!

My neighborhood is doing something neat!  Someone rang our doorbell and ran on Sunday evening.  Brandon opened the door and found this....

I thought this was so cute!

A couple yummy weight watcher recipes

I made two really easy and delicious recipes this week (both were weight watchers recipes). I made the Chicken Divan Sunday evening and just popped it in the oven Monday when we got home from work and had leftovers on Tuesday.  Tuesday night after Hadley was asleep, I made the Spinach Lasagna rolls.  We heated them in the oven on Wednesday night and had the leftovers on Thursday.  This was really nice only having to cook one night during the week so I need to remember this routine :)  As I'm on a gluten-free diet (and my Kroger didn't have GF lasagna noodles), I made some gluten-free pasta and mixed all the ingredients and put in a small baking dish.  I made Brandon's according to the direction.  

Chicken Divan, Lightened Up

Weight Watcher Recipe

  

Ingredients

1-1/2 lbs broccoli (3 large heads) chopped

24 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 3 breasts)

salt and fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp butter

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp shallots, minced (I used one small yellow onion + about 1/2 cup shredded carrot for added veggie/color)

4 tbsp flour

1 cup fat free chicken broth

1 cup fat free milk

2 oz dry sherry (I used white wine)

6 oz shredded reduced-fat swiss

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and blanch 3 minutes. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Saute chicken on medium-low heat on both sides until browned, and just about cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and transfer chicken to a cutting board. When cooled, slice chicken into bite sized pieces.

Heat a medium skillet on medium heat. Add the butter and oil until melted and then add garlic and shallots. Sprinkle the flour and whisk until smooth. Stir in broth, milk and sherry and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in half of the swiss cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange the broccoli in a casserole dish and pour half of the sauce over the broccoli.Arrange the chicken on top and cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle the remaining swiss cheese, grated parmesan and top with breadcrumbs. Spray a little oil on top. (I just mixed all the ingredients up and topped with breadcrumbs)


Bake 30 minutes.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Weight Watcher Recipe

Ingredients 

9 lasagna noodles, cooked

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained

15 oz fat free ricotta cheese 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

salt and fresh pepper

32 oz tomato sauce (I used a jar of Ragu)

9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Rollcarefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

4 Years!

Today marks 4 years of marriage to my wonderful husband.  What an amazing 4 years!  I thought I would share 4 things I love about Brandon on our 4th anniversary.  This year especially has made me appreciate him even more now that we have Hadley in our lives.

1. He is such a sweet daddy to our baby girl.  My heart melts when I see them play and smile with each other, when he tries to teach her things, and when he is silly trying to get her to laugh.  I love when he snuggles and gives her kisses.  I can't imagine a more perfect father for my baby!
2. He recognizes when I need help or a break.  It is stressful being a full-time working mom, so having a partner that recognizes this and will help cook (he's a better cook than me!), do the dishes, sterilize bottles, get up with the baby at night, etc, makes me one very lucky lady.  I am especially thankful for his help when Hadley was first born because I had a c-section and he had to jump in feet first with caring for our bundle of joy.  My love grew immensely for him during this time when he was caring for Hadley and me!
3. He let me get a housecleaner.  In fact, our housecleaner came today (thank goodness)!  I don't hate to clean, but I certainly don't love it.  Plus it gives me a little more time with Hadley which makes me happy :)  
4. He loves an early bedtime as much as me these days.  We are exhausted at the end of the day and we are not ashamed to crawl into bed at 9 pm. 
   
   
   

   I couldn't resist posting a couple pictures from our day!  

These 4 years have been the best of my life, and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our little family for many years to come :)