White cheddar chicken pasta

I made the most delicious dinner on Sunday night.  So good that I thought I'd share it with all 5 of my followers.  After I finished my plate, I actually took a few more bites right out of the skillet on the stove.  I can't wait for the leftovers tonight!

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta from homemade by holman.  

I also made my second pinterest inspired craft yesterday.  

the inspiration...

and mine...

Other happenings...

1)  Harper is busting out of the swaddles now.  This past weekend she was busting out before she fell asleep at nap time and then would play with her feet and "talk" for awhile before she started calling for me.  Therefore, no nap.  So...  I'm now using the sleep sacks at nap time.  I was pretty worried at first, but she seems to be napping okay so far.  We still swaddle at night because she's so sleepy and doesn't try to fight going to sleep at that time.

2)  Jason has started training for the Texas Independence Relay.  I should really start running again, too, but I can seriously come up with some good excuses not to.  The reality is, I know how hard and uncomfortable it is in the beginning and so I just keep putting it off, even though I know after a few weeks it will be enjoyable again. 

3)  I planned out our dinners to cook for the next month.  This usually takes up so much of my time on the weekends.  I'll continue to post recipes when I come across one that we really like.

Harper is waking up so I guess that's it for now :)

Wordless Wednesday

Pinterest inspired

Do you pinterest?  If not, what rock are you living under?!?!  I have recently become a little bit obsessed with it.  I feel like it's a good thing to be obsessed with though.  It's made me want to be crafty and try new recipes and it gives me great ideas for gifts, organization, decorating, our future house... {Seriously though, if you have a real job then stay away from pinterest.  Stay far, far away...}


Anyway, this post is about my first craft project: a bow holder for Harper.  She was really in need of one.  I can't stand clutter and this is what one of her drawers looked like...

  
And then I saw this bow holder from Love from Texas that I thought was really cute...

So I went to Michaels, then Hobby Lobby, then back to Michaels to buy the supplies...

And made Harper's bow holder while she was napping...

I'm pretty pleased with myself :)  I should have bought a bigger picture frame, but I still have enough fabric and ribbon to make another one if/when I need to.

And here is Harper since my mom is always asking for more pictures of her...

And baby makes three

I am finally able to check this off of my to-do list!!!

Click here to view this photo book larger

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4 months old

Our sweet little girl turned 4 months old yesterday.  Time has got to start slowing down!  She is at such a fun age - so happy and full of smiles.  It is really unbelievable how much you can love someone.

Harp at 4 months:

• She weighed in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces and is 23.5 inches long (both 50th percentile).
• She still sleeps great at night!  She's gone 12 hours straight a couple of times, but she usually sleeps about 10.5 hours, eats, and then sleeps another 2.5 or so hours.  It varies though.
• She takes 2-3 naps a day usually (anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours).  She puts herself to sleep, in her crib, at nap time.  She still fusses some, but we wait 15 minutes to turn the monitor on and she's asleep by that time.
• She eats 5 times a day (still only breast milk.  The doctor recommended starting cereal, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet.)
• She still loves sucking on her fingers (or my arm or her toys...)
• She's just starting to discover her feet
• She picks up her toys and shakes them or brings them to her mouth
• She enjoys riding in the baby bjorn now that she faces out.  She'll give big smiles to all of the strangers that she meets.  She also enjoys riding in the stroller now that she rides in it directly (vs. the car seat attached to the stroller).
• She has seriously got to be the best. baby. ever!

Taco soup

I hosted bunco at my house on Monday night.  Due to the weather and the National Championship game, we ended up not having enough people to play bunco {we ended up playing Catch Phrase instead}.  Not that it matters.  I could really care less about actually playing bunco.  

It was a pretty nasty day on Monday.  You really would have thought that Houston was getting hit by a hurricane the way the local news was covering the storms all day long.  I had the perfect meal for such a rainy, rainy day:  taco soup and cornbread.  I love this soup.  It is delicious and so EASY to make!  Everyone raved about it so I thought I'd share the recipe.  The chipotle ranch dip, cornbread, sangria, and cake balls all got good reviews, too!  Success!

Taco soup:

1.5 - 2 pounds extra lean ground beef (so that I don't have to drain it)

1 onion, diced

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 can rotel tomatoes

2 cans pinto beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 package taco seasoning

1 package dry Ranch dressing mix

Cook beef and onion until beef is no longer pink.  Drain beef if you need to.  Add all other ingredients (don't drain any of the cans).  Simmer at least 15 minutes.  That's it!  Told you it was easy!

My cake balls.  They didn't turn out too pretty.  At all.  Good thing I bought the little wrappers.  I picked the best ones to set out, and Jason and I are eating the rest {well, mainly Jason.  I've never seen him eat sweets so fast.  Except maybe monster cookies}.  I watched a you tube video on making cake balls after I made them so maybe next time I'll do a little better.  I think my icing was too thick.  Do any of you have tips on making thinner icing???  

Silly girl

Before I was ever pregnant, I hoped that I would one day have a child that would make me laugh the way my nephew Campbell always has.  You know, in addition to wanting a healthy, happy, and cute baby that would sleep through the night.

Well, Harper is well on her way :)

Pajama pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Jason and I finally gave up putting Harper in the little white t-shirts to sleep at night {a relief to some of you, I'm sure}.  She looks absolutely adorable in her footed pajamas.  Not sure what took us so long to make the change... maybe the hot weather?

Harper got tired of all of the picture-taking and tried to make an escape...

I had to quit taking pictures at this point to rescue her ;)