The Big 2

We celebrated a momentous occasion a couple weeks ago--the big 2 for Braedan. We threw him a Curious George birthday party (he loves the cartoon and books), and he seemed to understand why so many of his friends and family members were there. When asking him how old he is, he enthusiastically replies "Two!" and also holds up two fingers to show you. And he did great when it came time for his big moment of blowing out the candles. I was a little nervous that he might cave under the pressure, but he was ready. A little too ready as Mother Nature kept him waiting since she decided to crank up the wind that day. There was a little trouble keeping the candles lit, but like I said he was more than ready when his moment came. It was so fun watching him enjoy the party that my only regret was that the whole thing flew by way too fast.

Before the party making sure George is ready for the afternoon

He wanted to take a swing at George here instead of using the kid-friendly strings they now have on pinatas. He actually saw the bat on the ground and picked it up himself to take a whack.

Enjoying the party with his friends

I've really embraced the stay-at-home mom thing as I decided to make his cake and the cupcakes from scratch. I thought I would have enough time to have these done and relax but it was way stressful. Next time I might just go easy on myself and order a cake next time.

His big moment

And I think the hubby's tired expression sums up what a long but fun day it was for mom and dad.

Eat, Laugh, Love

Now don't judge too much by what I'm about to share, but some of my best memories of events or outings involve food. Just look at some of my previous blog posts to affirm this shameless truth about me. I have even been known to scope out the menu of a restaurant prior to arriving just to check out what they have to offer. Some friends back in Chicago can attest to this fact. When stepping out with them, I pretty much knew what I planned to order for a dinner outing, a lunch and even the occasional brunch.

So it should come as no surprise to learn that when the hubby and I celebrated our 10 Year Anniversary last month, it involved one of the best meals I have had since moving down here. The hubby and I dined at the Republic of Texas here in downtown Corpus and not only was it a nice treat for the taste buds, but it was also just a nice way to spend some time alone with each other without having to talk over the chitter chatter and rambunctious playing of Braedan. We reflected on the duration of our time together and how, for both us, it does not seem like it's been 10 years (it's actually 13, if you include our dating period). And to me that's one of the best qualities of being married to my hubby--being able to laugh and have so much fun that you lose track of time.

Here's a glimpse of the some of the daily laughs I've enjoyed...

Here we are during our senior year of college

Year One

And Year 10

Cheese, please and thank you

The above words are some of the simplest of the English language and nowadays a "please" and "thank you" may be hard to come by, but coming from my little guy, these words are like music to my ears. Over the last couple months his vocabulary and comprehension of things has increased so much, sometimes I am caught off guard by it. He understands that to politely ask for something he must say please but it's more of a "peaze" and when given what he desires, a thank you follows but he's also put his own twist on that word with it sounding more like a "tankoo." I am trying my best to record him when he speaks, because it is one of the cutest things. Hopefully I can get that down soon, but these days when I have the camera in hand to record something he's more interested in being the cameraman himself which you'll see from the pictures below. Lately though I have learned it is easier to shoot pictures if I say, "Can you pose for the camera and say cheese?" He will kindly say the word "cheese" and give his best impression of a model-like pose. This is what he did for me when I asked him to pose a couple weeks ago.

And here he is being photographer like mom. Since he had the camera, I had to use my phone to take the picture.

The hubby and I have so much fun with him everyday. We love sharing, showing and teaching him all sorts of new things. Here is one of the more fun activities we can get him to do. (And please ignore my prompting during the video. You will see he was pretty distracted and I was lucky to get him to cooperate as much as he did. When I replayed the video, I was surprised I wasn't moving the camera in the motion I was urging him to do. You can just imagine what I'm doing on the other side of the camera.)

More good times to come in Corpus

At the end of last month, I finally got the hubby to do the impossible--participate in a running event. Never mind that he might tell you the best part for him was the beer they offered after, I'm just glad he joined me in Corpus Christi's Beach to Bay Relay Marathon. Our teammates included some good friends of ours from college and another couple we've become close to here in Corpus. Considering this is the largest relay marathon in the country, with about 2,520 teams turning out for this year's race, our team did really well within our division clocking in a time of 4:27. And this was the first time in about 10 years where I took part in a team-oriented activity. Sadly, I think the last team-type activity I did was some rounds of volleyball during Greek Week at good ole' St. MU. But in my preparation for the race, right up until the night before, the familiar butterflies of teammates counting on you to do your best came back to me just as they used to in high school. And I know that anxiety didn't just affect me but it got to a few other teammates as well, except the hubby of course. He was his usual cool cucumber self sipping on a beer the night before as we discussed how each of us would get to our respective starting points. Not only did our worries include how to get to our start lines, but there was the nonsense of having to actually hold and carry a baton while you ran. So then we added the pressure of making sure to find our hand-off teammate in a timely fashion so as not to affect the overall time. One of my biggest worries was the responsibility of being the lead leg of the group, and to make matters worse the first leg takes place on the beach. But the running gods were on my side since massive amounts of seaweed were washed up with the tide the day before, moving the start line to a different location away from the sand and thankfully so. Just because a gal has ran a couple of long distance races doesn't mean she can breezily stride through the sand a la Baywatch style.

But given all the anxieties that plagued me and my teammates, I can confidently say we will probably do it again next year, including the hubby, because that's what made up part of the fun of the event. Afterwards, we all had stories about how we got to our starting lines, what happened during the run and baton hand-offs and what sort of crazy runners we saw along the way. I actually saw a guy running barefoot on the asphalt carrying a pair of thong sandals under his arm like it was a purse. The way he carried them it was as if bringing shoes was an afterthought once he walked out the door as if he said, "Oh I guess I should bring some shoes just in case my feet do get tired." I wish I had had my camera to take a picture of him and my reaction because I think my mouth dropped open when I noticed him. Luckily my sister ran in that first leg too and saw that runner so she related to my shock of the image. She also shares my weird love of running so she formed a team with some friends and got to take part in the fun madness. Participating in the race with the her, the hubby and friends makes me look forward to more good times to come here in Corpus even if to the hubby's surprise and disappointment it involves a little exercise.
My gal teammates are below. The one in the middle is one of my best girlfriends from college. On the left is her sister who happens to live down the street from us. She has been so great in helping us adjust down here.

And enjoying the cool down with the sis below.

Easter weekend

This particular update embarrassingly lives up to the term "far overdue," but I still feel the need to share about that weekend, not just for the fun of filling you in on the details, but also because I imagine all of you sitting in front of your computers on the edge of your seats. So to keep the suspense from killing you, I'll delve right into things.

Braedan and I spent the weekend in San Antonio and Cousin Ian, Aunt Amy and Uncle Mickey met us there to join in the Easter festivities. The fun began on Friday with a trip to the San Antonio Zoo. At the time we made our decision to spend that first day together at the zoo, I internally complimented our wise choice to make that our first visit, but that overconfidence in our decision-making quickly faded as we drove into the zoo grounds because the parking lot and entrance was, for lack of a better word, a zoo. Since it was Good Friday and schools were closed, every San Antonian decided spending the day there was a good idea. But despite the large crowd, we still enjoyed ourselves. Below Ian is checking out the bears, but Braedan spotted something else (not an animal) that caught his attention and tried to get Ian to take a look.

And what do you do after spending a long, hot, exhausting day at the zoo? You rest and gear up for some Mexican food and margaritas. We met for dinner at a well-known eatery, Henry's Puffy Taco, and Ian and Braedan kept the entertainment going there as well. Here they are hanging with Henry the Puffy Taco.

And I could never get Braedan to look straight ahead while taking the picture. He was too busy watching the puffy taco get away from him.

The next day we attended an Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the Jensen Family, and they did a wonderful job of putting everything together. Not only did they prepare the egg hunt but they made sure to have snacks, drinks and the Easter bunny himself on hand. During the hunt, Braedan really got the hang of searching for eggs as you can tell from the loot in his basket, and he also enjoyed visiting with the Easter bunny.

Easter Sunday proved to be just as fun as the rest of the weekend as Braedan spent the day visiting with more family and building up his egg hunting skills.

Fiesta fever

A couple weeks ago Braedan and I came down with a little bit of Fiesta fever. The following captured the spirit, tradition and frenzy we experienced at some of the weekend events.

I stepped out to NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio) with my sister, the second best date behind the hubby of course. She gladly joined me as we met up with some girlfriends, and I made sure to get a nice picture of us before we sunk our teeth into some good eats.

This is an anticucho, which are grilled beef tips with a spicy, tangy kick, and I don't know what makes it so good. Maybe that it's served on stick, because everything served on a stick at Fiesta is good (see my previous post about chicken on a stick). I know that's not true, but when eating it you acquire a new skill because you must attempt to eat it one handed while simultaneously juggling your cold beer in the other.

The following evening Braedan prepared for the Fiesta Flambeau Parade by getting all decked out in some good, parade-watching duds and then practicing his grito along with a popular question on the minds of parade goers.





Miss Fiesta and her princesses wear long ball gowns atop the floats which hide their shoes so many in the audience are curious about what kind of shoes they're wearing underneath. The crowd gets a laugh out of what they choose to wear so this prompts many to yell out and ask "Show me your shoes!"which is what I was trying to get Braedan to do.

Here is Braedan doing some parade watching with his cousin Alexander. I hadn't noticed until I posted this, but look how sweet he is clasping his hands together while watching.
As the evening progressed and we began to see the floats colorfully light up, I thought Braedan would surely get excited, almost too excited to stay still but as each bright float passed us he just looked on in awe. It was fun to watch him take it all in, and I am grateful we had the opportunity to celebrate this family tradition again this year.

Winter, spring and a few things in between

Here we are almost half way through April and all I keep thinking is where did February and March go, and surely my baby boy isn't turning two in a few months. Since the start of the new year each day feels like we navigate through it at the speed of light, which I guess is a good thing, but as I mentioned before it has also become a frightful reminder that Braedan is only growing more and more. So just as quickly as our days and activities move along, I too will attempt to swiftly sum up the highlights of what we've been up to.

Our first winter in Texas was pretty uneventful compared to some of the snow and ice we witnessed during our time in Chicago, but at the beginning of February a "winter storm" decided to head our way making it seem otherwise to native south Texans. On February 4, we were part of a historical event in San Antonio--its first snow fall in over 26 years. Thankfully the snow was gone by that afternoon giving us the green light to mosey on down to the rodeo for Braedan's first taste of the cowboy way of life. While there he rode a pony for the first time and got up close and personal with other farm animals.

Viewing these pictures brings the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" to mind, because when I look back at these photos I will always remember what took place right before the shots were taken. Although Braedan looks to be enjoying himself on the pony, a few short moments before I took this picture he was crying and hesitant about being placed up there. What you don't see is me trotting alongside him continually reassuring him that it was ok and the fun part of the ride would begin in no time. Thankfully he calmed down and got into the ride, even bouncing a couple times to make his pony "giddy up." It's funny because while he was a little scared at the start of the pony ride, he certainly didn't seem to mind the friendly tap on the shoulder from the goat in the above picture.

During that same weekend, we cheered on the Green Bay Packers during their Super Bowl win and Braedan boogied on down during the entertaining halftime show. Over the last month it seems as though Braedan learns and says a new word everyday, and for a while now he has been into copying and imitating a lot of what we do. While watching the Black Eyed Peas perform at halftime, he picked up some new dance moves from his Tia.

March and the start of spring mean two important things to me -- nice weather to soak up and Fiesta in San Antonio is just around the corner. At the end of March our little family made a trip to St. Mary's University to celebrate its Alumni Weekend and for many of us, it's a little teaser of what's to come at Fiesta. During that visit Braedan indulged in a Fiesta food staple, his first chicken on a stick.

March and April in Chicago never quite lived up to their status as spring time months so it's been a nice change of pace to have the opportunity to spend so much time outdoors lately. One thing we have adjusted to is high wind gusts, which I learned is a normal thing down here for this time of year. But I tell you what, I'll take warm winds blowing us over any day over the possibility of snow showering us during this time of year.

Poof, here's your dinner for tonight!

I wanted to share a recipe for a while now, and I am finally making the time to do so. A lot of you already know that I have never professed to be a good cook, or even a cook for that matter so this is history in the making. I've always been one of those people who was intimidated by the kitchen and many recipes. Now I know you might be thinking what could possibly be so scary about a recipe since you are being told exactly what to do. Well for me, the instruction of a recipe isn't the difficult part but sometimes finding a certain ingredient in the grocery store is too much of a challenge. And don't get me wrong, I love my HEB (missed it greatly while away from Texas), but I don't want to be combing the aisles all day long for ginger, dill weed or any other fancy spice. I am also envious of those cooks who just magically throw something together. I always think, where does that confidence come from. How can you say, just throw in a dab of that and a sprinkle of this and poof, you have a tasty dinner. I guess that's why I am in awe of Rachel Ray because she is the queen of "Now, use one tablespoon of chili powder, eyeball it in your palm and use a 1/2 cup of chicken stock, that's about three times around the pan as you're drizzling it." If I did that, I would get a too spicy, runny mix of goop. Anyways, the recipe below is one of her concoctions, and it's been a hit at our place several times now. I even included a picture of my creation. Happy Eating!

Mexican Beef Pie

Ingredients: 2 boxes of corn muffin mix; 2 eggs; 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted; 1 1/2 cups of milk; 1 cup frozen corn kernels; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1lb ground beef or turkey; 3 garlic cloves, crushed from skins and chopped; 1 med onion; 1 tbsp chili powder; 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp hot sauce, I used Tabasco; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 bottle of Mexican beer (I just used Miller Lite); 3tbsp dark brown sugar; and 1 package of Monterrey and cheddar cheese blend

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a large bowl, combine the 2 pkgs of corn muffin mix, with eggs, melted butter and milk. Stir in corn. Grease the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Pour in the batter and bake until the cornbread becomes light in color, about 15 mins. Meanwhile, place a large skillet over med-high heat and add the 2tbsp of olive oil. Add the beef or turkey and brown and drain fat. Return the meat to pan and add garlic, onions, and season with salt and pepper, chili powder, cumin and hot sauce. Cook for 5 mins, then add the Worcestershire sauce, beer and brown sugar. Stir to combine and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the meat begins to soak up the juices. Once the meat is done, cover the corn bread with meat mixture, then sprinkle with cheese. Put the pan back in the oven for about 5 mins longer to set the topping and melt the cheese. And Voila!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a Valentine's Day greeting from the biggest sweetheart I know.

Over the weekend Braedan got the chance to celebrate Valentine's Day with some friends at the local library. We visit the library once a week for story time, and on Saturday they hosted a special story time with a craft project and snacks to get everyone ready for the big day. He had a great time as always listening to the stories and songs, but I think the added treat of a snack was his favorite part. As you can see from the picture below, he didn't have any trouble eating his cake and gold fish. With it being Valentine's Day, I am taking advantage of this opportunity to treat the hubby to a small gift today. We usually don't exchange gifts for Valentine's, but I've been wanting to find him this for a while now. When he comes home today, he will come face to face with the newest member of our family--Big Carl.

For those of you who don't know Big Carl, he makes frequent appearances on the show Cougar Town. He's helped the lead character of the show get through some good and bad times, and since the hubby and I have become bigger fans of wine, reds in particular, I thought it was time to welcome our own Big Carl into the family. Our top choice of red wine is the Yellow Tail Cabernet and the one featured with Big Carl here is the reserve Cabernet. If any you have some preferred red wines you enjoy, please let me know. We're always looking for new ones to try.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

A little help, please

The inspiration behind this week's blog topic all started with none other than Braedan, and the direct source of this light bulb moment comes from the video I posted below. I'll explain more about that later, because aside from that incident three other things came to mind when I decided to write about this subject--a novel, the hubby and me. The novel I'm referring to is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. If some of you read, I imagine you're like me in that you do most of your reading at night before you go to bed. While reading The Help, my habit of nighttime reading became both a blessing and a curse, because with the book being so enjoyable I would get too engrossed and stay up way later than I should have reading more. If you're into historical fiction or wanting to find a different read than your norm, I recommend you check it out.

The inclusion of the hubby and myself within this help theme stems from our crazy decision to participate in Corpus Christi's Beach to Bay Relay Marathon, a team running event coming up this May. Luckily, we have a lot of time to prepare and we're running with four other friends so the average distance each of us must run is a little over four miles. In last week's post, I talked about how much I enjoy working out, but I don't always make the time to do it with all the running around with Braedan so I will definitely need a little help to take the time to prepare. The hubby, on the other hand, needs help in the motivation department. Once he gets started with working out, he is committed but getting him over that initial hump is the challenge. One of his best qualities is his quick wit, and back when I decided to do that first half marathon he offered encouraging words telling me I could definitely do it. I remember mentioning to him that we could maybe try to do it together, and instead of just replying with a simple "no," he of course didn't miss a beat and followed up with, "I will never pay to run." Well, this just goes to show that you should never say "never."

(I'm just happy that we'll finally get to do something like this together.)

And the biggest contributing factor for this post idea started with Braedan and his willingness to help. I can request simple tasks such as asking him to throw away a piece of trash or asking him to grab some clothes so that he can get dressed to go out. Never mind the fact that he might come back to me with only a pair of gym shorts when they're not appropriate for a day like today when it was 34 and the winds were gusting up to 30 mph. I at least know he understands and can follow directions. The funny thing is the day I recorded this video clip, he just started doing this activity on his own. I didn't ask him to do it, but it's nice to know that he can offer a little help when it's needed.

Jen's favorites, 2010 edition

Following Oprah's example of her Favorite Things episode, I thought I would share some of my favorites from the last part of 2010. I figure it will be an easy way to provide a quick rundown of what we've been up to since we made our big trek down to Texas. Since I won't be giving away a slew of hot products when this is all over I know this bit of news won't ignite a wave of hysterics from all of you like the response Oprah receives from her audience, but I do hope some of these updates will give you a laugh or two.

Favorite #1 - Our new house

I have yet to find one thing that I don't like about our new home, and one of its best features which I've really grown to enjoy is the kitchen. When we were considering the house I remember thinking I would need to step up my game and do the kitchen justice because it looks like a seasoned cook's dream. Just look at the stove. Doesn't it blare, "Please use me to my fullest potential!"

Favorite #2 - Staying home with Braedan
Since the day he was born I have loved every part of it, but I think this stage in his development is one of the best. It's amazing to see how much he is learning and growing day to day. One of his newest skills is pretend play. He'll bring me over to his kitchen and cook for me, then take plates of food over to his table so we can dine and eat. One of his favorite activities is pretending to talk on the phone, and recently I caught him using our coffee table as a desk to "work" on his computer. After deciding to stay home with him a few people have asked if I miss work. All I have to say is, "Wouldn't you prefer to have a boss like this?"
Favorite #3 - Completing my second half marathon

This past November I participated in San Antonio's Rock n Roll Half Marathon, and after completing it I had the same thought as I did last time, "I should have done a full one." I know, I know, that makes me sound crazy, but I'm one of those freaks of nature who enjoys working out. Plus, I need to do some sort of physical activity since eating is another one of my favorite pastimes. Unfortunately, I ran a little slower than my first time around, two minutes to be exact, with an official time of 2:06. One day I hope to complete a full marathon, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Keeping up with a toddler is a marathon in itself. :) (Please excuse the watermark on these pictures. I was too cheap to purchase the official photos.)

Favorite # 4 - Living in the same state as our family

It's so nice to be a car ride away from our loved ones rather than a plane ride. Braedan and I are quickly accumulating road trip miles having already made four trips to San Antonio and one to Houston. The closer proximity gave us a chance to spend the holidays with both sides of the family.

This first photo is a shot of Braedan with great grandma Napoles. He was showing her how to use his mower.

Favorite #5 - Braedan learning to dance

Favorite #3 describes my awe in watching Braedan grow and change and watching him pick up this particular skill will go down in my memory as one of the cutest and most entertaining. During a visit to San Antonio in December, we attended my uncle's 50th birthday party where there was lots of food, drinks and of course dancing. Like at all typical parties no one wanted to step out and be the first on the dance floor, but luckily Braedan was there with his 14-month old cousin Danica to break the ice and get the party started. (Sorry if it's a little dark. By this point of the party, the lighting was turned down to get people out of their seats.)