Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Recipe of the Month - Raisin Bread

The other day at the grocery store I noticed that a nice loaf or raisin bread was upwards of $6.  $6 - WHAT?  I know I can make it for cheaper than that and I have a bread maker at home, does it get any easier than that?  Phil hasn't been a big fan of the recipe that came with the bread maker, so I googled up some recipes and came across this one.  It's soft and moist and the kids even ate it up!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (for the bread maker)

Ingredients:  
1 cup milk 
3 tablespoons butter, softened 
1 egg 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
3 cups flour 
1 package yeast 
3/4 cup raisins 

Directions: 
Add all ingredients, except raisins, to the bread maker pan in the order listed (or as 
directed in your bread maker instructions). 
Set bread maker to the regular setting (I set mine to the sweet bread setting) and start. Add raisins when the beeper sounds to 
add additional ingredients. 

Friday, June 24, 2011

Another Belated Birthday Greeting

Makayla, Happy Third Birthday!  I can hardly believe that it's been three years already.  You are growing like a weed and we love you so much - although we could do without your tantrums!!  This last year has been amazing as we welcomed your brother into our family.  It is so much fun to watch the two of you together.  You speak so well and I love having conversations with you.  You know your colours, your numbers, you're starting to learn letters and I love that you speak Spanish!  I hope that we can continue to grow that in you (thanks to Dora the Explorer!).  This past week we started working on potty training and you have been a rock star!  We are excited to have you go to preschool in September and I look forward to this summer with you as we explore more outdoors and as we play with some friends!  You are a joy and we love you!!!  Can't wait to see what this next year holds!!!


Best birthday present - a helium Dora balloon!  It lasted for two weeks!!!

Epic Parenting Fail: thought I had enough batteries in the camera to get us through the day... take out the camera to take photos at dinner only to realize the battery was dead!  Had to use the blackberry to take a few photos!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Happy (Belated) Birthday Little Man!!!

Wow, where has the year gone?  I can hardly believe that our little guy has turned ONE!  Here's the link to his arrival but I realized that I never wrote any details about how he came into our lives (I did however mention that the second child does get a little left in the dust!).

So, one year ago (well actually a little more than that), Taylor Philip Yee joined our family on May 14, 2010.  His due date was May 21, 2010.  Phil was working in Grande Cache and was working his last set before he had a few weeks off.  He had just finished working a week of overnight shifts and slept for a few hours and then made the drive to Edmonton.  He was home in the afternoon of the 13th.  My mom was arriving on the 15th and so we knew we had lots of time!  I went to one of my final dr appointments that morning and found out that things were already underway.  I had been having contractions off and on for the past few days and after that appointment they totally picked up.  I knew that it was going to be soon, I just wasn't prepared for how soon.

We had a bunch of friends on stand by and some great people who had offered to help out even watching Makayla if this baby came before my mom got to town.  When Phil came home that afternoon I told him what was going on.  I had made plans to meet a friend for coffee, so I went out with her, all while crossing my legs and making sure this baby didn't come any sooner than we were ready for!  By dinner time that night I was starting to get a little uneasy, feeling that tonight just might be the night.  I remember tucking Makayla into bed that night thinking that things were about to be so different and I remember saying to her, "See you in the morning" (I was just NOT ready for this baby - Phil had just got home and my mom wasn't going to be there for another day, but I knew that I wasn't going to be seeing her in the morning).  As we were going to bed my contractions were five minutes apart and so we called the family down the street who babysat for Makayla very often.  We called them just to give them a heads up that we may be calling them sooner than later.  Around 3 am I woke up and had some crazy contractions.  I rolled over, told Phil to get up, it was time to go (I have never seen him move so fast!!).  He made the call to our friends and I puttered around trying to get myself ready to go.  By the time they arrived and I was ready to go it was getting close to 3:30 am.  We got to the hospital, checked in and got all hooked up.  I was in a waiting area with monitors and what not for a little while.  They moved me to a delivery room and things picked up.

The nurse was getting everything ready, the doctor was called and on the way and I was doing everything I could to not use any drugs.  I got some of that lovely gas that got me pretty loopy and poor Phil just wanted to sleep!  I was feeling the urge to push and told the nurse.  They checked me again, called the dr again and started to get things ready a little faster.  The doctor arrived, she broke my water and a few pushes later the little man was here!  6:33 am he arrived!  Weighed in at 8lbs 1oz.  And of course it's been love ever since!

It's hard to believe that it's been over a year now!  You've grown to be so big and such a fun little guy.  You are adventurous and daring.  You are determined and you let nothing stand in your way.  You want everything your big sister has, even if you can't have it.  You love to laugh and you LOVE to eat!  You are a great addition to our family and I feel complete!  We love you very much and can't imagine our life without you!  We can't wait to see what you will grow up to become!  Happy Birthday Little Man!





Thursday, June 02, 2011

Sick

Ugh... we've been sick around here, hence the lack of blogging.  The kids have been out with fevers, vomit and diarrhea!  Good times.  What happened to the 24 hour flu?  My kids have had it for four days now.  Today was the first day that Makayla was almost her normal self.  And of course today I start to feel yucky.  Here's hoping we all get better soon.

The other reason for not posting much is that the weather has been great.  I've been out mowing the yard, pulling weeds and just enjoying some quiet time for myself with the littles are sleeping.  We bought some nice deck chairs and a fire pit.  I see us hanging outside a lot more in the next few months!  So glad the snow is gone and the weather is looking up.

Here's a sunset from the other night!