Anniversary Treat

For our anniversary, Cameron surprised me with tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis.


It was so much fun to get dressed up, drop off Miley at Don and Cindy's, and go out on a really nice date. This is only the second musical I have seen...the first one was also with Cameron when he took me to go see Les Miserables for my birthday one year while we were dating.

I DID bring my camera. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a lot harder to stop and get pictures when there are just two of you. So there aren't any. :(

We had a blast though...the singers, the orchestra, and the set were all AMAZING...so if anyone in the area is looking for something fun to go do, I would highly recommend it!

2 Years!

Today marks two years since Cameron and I did this....


It has been a great two years, and during the time that we dated and have been married we sure have had fun...

...playing and cheering for UW football....

...going to baseball games (Rockies or Twins!)...

...cheering on our Cowboys even when we weren't part of the action...

...going to concerts (Def Leppard and Journey)...

....going to work parties....

...getting engaged...

...getting married...

...honeymooning in Mexico...

...working on our tans while honeymooning in Mexico...

...becoming a family of three...

...traveling to some fun places together...

We have had lots of adventures together and I can't think of anyone I would rather be with during good times and bad. Cameron is the kindest, most patient, loving person I know and I am so lucky that he is mine!

Here's to two years, and to many, many more! I love you, Cameron!

First "Official" Mother's Day

Today marked my first "official" Mother's Day. I kind of felt like it was my second, even though last year at this time Miley wasn't here yet. But it was fun to celebrate with my baby, and to know her personality and everything this year.

Cameron was great. I was very spoiled with some gifts, and a wonderful dinner that he and some friends helped prepare. I love being a mom...it definitely has its challenges and frustrations, but here are some of my favorite parts:

• Going in to get Miley first thing in the morning, and seeing how excited she is to see me (or Cameron). She just lights up. It definitely gets your day started on the right foot.
• Seeing when Miley learns something new, and realizing that Cameron or I taught her that...no matter how big or small, she is learning from us, and it feels good.
• Getting to feel like a kid again...sometimes I don't like this so much, but other times I love getting on the floor and crawling around and playing with blocks.
• Hearing Miley laugh.
• Getting the rare snuggling time when Miley is really tired. Sometimes she won't let me snuggle her at all, but there are times when she will let me rock her and hold her until she falls asleep in my arms. I could hold her like that and watch her sleep for hours.
• Holding Miley's little hand as she toddles around.
• When I am holding her and she looks up at me and reaches up and just touches my face.
  

I feel so lucky that we got such a perfect little girl to be a part of our family. And I hope that I can half the mom that my mom was to us. I am lucky that I have such a great example of the kind of mom I want to be. To all you moms out there....HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

It's the Simple Things...

I love watching the random things that Miley is interested in. Sometimes I forget how new everything is to her, and it is so fun to watch her learning new things every day and learning about the world around her.

Now that the weather has been consistently nice, we have been spending more time outside. This evening she discovered...rocks. Miley could not get enough of these rocks outside our house, and even when we came inside she sat at the front door wanting to go out again.

I wish I could look at the world through her eyes, and see the good in everything...even "rocks". Or maybe I just wish that Miley will always continue to look at the world the way she does now. Wouldn't that just make the world a better place??

OK, so maybe I am just reading way too much into her fascination with rocks, but I definitely appreciate having a baby that makes you stop and think about the simple things once in a while.





Now just a little cute thing to get away from the deep thought (ha ha) here is one of Miley's new favorite things to do - "I don't know." She does this pretty much every time you ask her a question. It's pretty dang cute.

Update on Our Walker

I thought I would post a little video of Miley walking just to show the progress she has made in a week and a half. She is still a little unsteady, but can walk all over the place! I'm in trouble now! :) She was having fun playing with her cousins...and we really do dress her. She was just in between clothes and pajamas for the night. It really shows how chubby our little girl is though! :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Recipe Group - Cinco de Mayo

Every three months I go to a recipe group that my sister-in-law, Cindy puts on. Every time there is some sort of a theme, and you bring a dish and the recipe to share with the other people there. I just decided that every time I do this, I should post a picture of what I make and the recipe so that if anyone wants to try it out, you can. :)

This month the theme was Cinco de Mayo, since we are having it tonight. I decided to make a dessert, and I thought I would make dessert empanadas. Not super hard, but it took a little bit of time to roll them out and fill them.

DESSERT EMPANADAS

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (3 ounces) package cream cheese
1 cup flour
1 cup fruit preserves
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

Day before -
Cream butter and cream cheese together until smoothly blended. Beat in the flour. Shape dough into a smooth ball, wrap in foil or cling wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or for up to a week.

At baking time -
Remove dough from refrigerator 30 minutes before using. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll chilled dough thin. Cut with 3 or 4 inch round cookie cutter. Place small spoonful of jam in center of each round. Moisten edges with water, and fold round over and press edges together.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes. Immediately roll in sugar mixed with cinnamon (traditional) or in confectioners sugar if preferred.

Can be served as they are either for a dessert, breakfast dish or with some whipped cream, ice cream, or chocolate sauce for an indulgent treat!

Mine didn't turn out fabulous...for some reason I couldn't seem to get the edges pressed together right or something, because they kept blowing up in the oven. :) Oh well. Here's to trying new things!


Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Moving...Again....

Well, we finally know what we are doing and where we are going to be living for the next year. We signed our lease on our apartment today, so we will be leaving the cute little (actually, not that little) house we have had the opportunity to live in for the past year. I definitely have mixed feelings about this....

Some of the cons:

• Moving - packing and unpacking for the third time since we have been married!
• Cutting our space in about half. Now, we don't have a ton of stuff, but we definitely have spread out in the house we are in. I have a feeling things are going to feel a little cramped for a while!
• Going from having a yard and a garage right out the door. We have garage parking at the apartment, but two floors down! And I have to admit...I am going to miss the yard right outside now that it is getting close to summer and I have a baby that is actually walking!
• The hassle of having to get everything switched to a new address...mail, checkbooks, etc.
• Sharing walls with people. This makes it a little harder when you need to let your baby cry it out!
  
• Leaving some fun neighbors!
  

Now some of the pros:

• Moving closer to some other fun neighbors!
• Moving makes me totally throw away stuff, and I always love getting to reorganize everything, and essentially start over. I just told Cameron, "I have a moving resolution - to actually keep our apartment really clean on a daily basis!" I know that probably sounds really sad to some of you, but I am not a naturally tidy person. I am working on it. :) Moving allows me to start some kind of a new cleaning routine, because you are starting fresh.
• 24 hour gym. We all know I need this desperately.
• Pool.
• No lawn to mow or water, which equals more time that Cameron gets to hang out with us.
• Cameron wanted me to add that we are literally a block away from Wal-Mart (blasphemy, I know), which makes it easy if we need a really quick grocery run. Just a disclaimer...we do most, if not ALL, of our shopping at our beloved Target! :)

So there you have it. I guess it is just another adventure that I need to psych myself up for. So for the next three and a half weeks we will be packing boxes and loading up the U-Haul (or my dad's pickup...whatever :)). Wish us luck! Don't worry....we will definitely have a better mode of transportation than this...

Oh and PS....for all of you out-of-towners...ahem...you know who you are...we have a three-bedroom apartment, so plenty of room for visitors!!