Update on my SOMEDAYs....

It's been a long time since I sat down to blog anything.  I actually considered starting over and rebuilding my blog, but decided to just pick up where I left off.  When I went back and read over one of my old blog posts, I truly realized how long it had been since I last blogged.  Read original post   here. 

I guess my dreams weren't really that big back in 2011.  In that time, we've had another baby.  Collin is already (almost) 16 months old!  He's walking and starting to talk.  He's quite the ham and the amount of love that my heart holds for him is unimaginable.  I'll update my feelings on the thought of more Holley babies in another post.  :) 

We've also bought our own home.  A dream that I thought would take us forever to achieve became a reality about the same time that Collin joined the world.  (By the way, that was excellent planning on my part since all I had to do was sign the papers.  No physical moving for me!)  The house is perfect for our family and I love seeing the memories we are making in it!

I did go back to school for my Masters degree.  Again right around the time that we were having a baby and buying a house.  What was I thinking?!?!?!  Ultimately, I decided to put it on hold (again) to focus on being a mommy that works a full time.  Maybe one day I will finish it....but we shall see.

So we haven't renewed our wedding vows....but we are talking about it.  Maybe at 10 years? 

The laser hair removal....probably never going to happen. 

Family vacation....we bought a camper last year and so in a few weeks, we hit the road for a week long trip to Mackinaw!!!  Mackinac Island was one of the first trips that Cody and I took on our own, so it's exciting that this will be our first family vacation also.  I'm slightly anxious about doing it all on our own, but I think it's going to be a blast for the kids.  As sad as it is, we've never taken either of them to one of the Great Lakes, so I think they are going to be in such awe.  Plus, now Addi has figured out bike riding so she might get to ride tandem on the island!

And Garth Brooks....while I thought it might never happen, he announced he's going back on tour this year!!  So....I'm saving my pennies because let me tell you what!  I'm going to see him and I'm going to have some freaking awesome seats!!!!  Sorry Cody, you will have to attend and you will have to watch me be my 100% nerdy self all night long!!!  (And probably for months before and after!)

I'm going to try to keep this more updated and capture the fun that is our daily life!  My kids say and do amazing things and I think it's worth capturing, so stay tuned! 

Love Letter to Cody

To my most amazing husband,

Four years ago today, I walked down the aisle toward you, ready to join my life with yours.  I always knew we would be there, from our first date.  Maybe, I knew before then.  Our life has been full of the happiest days of my life.  First, was when you kissed me for the first time.  I thought it would never be better.  Then you said you loved me.  Then you asked me to be your wife.  When I became your wife, I thought, "Wow, I'm never going to be happier than I am right now."  And then, with a simple positive pregnancy test, I thought, "I know I've never been happier than this."  But when we welcomed our daughter, I think we were both so over the moon that happiness became an understatement.

You have been everything to me over the last nine and a half years.  You've been my best friend, my soul mate, my confidant, my cheerleader, and the one who can always pick me up when I fall.  I'm not afraid of the future because I know that as long as we are together we can conquer anything.  We've been through so much together.  We've faced breakups, your dad passing away, losing your job, not having a place to call our own, and your family moving away.  But we've had the greatest joys too.  Vacations together (Las Vegas, New York, Florida), finding a place to call our own (multiple times), silly moments when it's just the two of us (I love you?...."Cody those glasses make you look smart"), and the best joy of all....Addison Hope. 

So without a doubt in the world, I can absolutely say I am more in love with you in this moment than I have ever been.  You continue to complete my life, and make me smile.  I prayed and prayed for the perfect mate, and God gave me you.  You are the most amazing husband.  I know I can always count on you.  You are an even better daddy.  I look at you with Addison and I can't help but smile the biggest smile. 

I am looking forward to a hundred more years together.  A lifetime of love and happiness with you and our family!  I look forward to many more amazing memories with you.  I love you Cody!  Thank you for being more than I ever dreamed of! 

Love always and forever, your wife,
Emily

We're Walking on Wednesdays

I decided I wanted to do a little photo shoot with Addison tonight and since she's starting to take steps, what better kind of shoot than some action shots.  

 Getting Ready:

 Walking makes me goofy:

 Strong and Steady:

 Falling with Style:

 

My list of "SOMEDAYS"

I am totally stealing this idea from a friend of mine.  After reading her blog, one of her bullet points was how she has a list of "Somdays."  I thought it was a great idea, and helps me think of my family goals.  So here it goes, my list of SOMEDAYS:

• SOMEDAY...I want more babies.  Not just one more....I will have to work on Cody for this.
• SOMEDAY...I want to own my own home.  While I love our duplex and it is working out great for us right now, I have dreams of being able to renovate and remodel (or even just paint).
• SOMEDAY...I will go back to school for my Master's degree.
• SOMEDAY....Cody and I will renew our wedding vows with a destination wedding/vow renewal ceremony. (I'm thinking Hawaii would be perfect!)
• SOMEDAY....I will get laser hair removal for my eyebrows, because I am SO OVER getting them waxed!  :-)
• SOMEDAY....we will take a family vacation somewhere other than Florida with just me, Cody and our children.  (I absolutely love that my parents have afforded us the opportunity to take a vacation to a beautiful resort in Florida with Addi, and I hope no one thinks I am ungrateful for this wish to someday be able to do it on our own). 
• SOMEDAY...I WILL see Garth Brooks in concert!!!
• SOMEDAY....I am going to do a spa day. 

If none of these ever happens, my life will still be beyond blessed and completely fulfilled.  I am so thankful that I have the life that I do, the family that I do and the friends that I do.  I am grateful to still be able to make a list of "Somedays."

2 New Recipes

In order to spice up our dinner routine, and to give me a new hobby, I decided to try all new menu items this week.  I found new recipes for every night this week.  So far, I am pretty happy with the results and have enjoyed the time in the kitchen (so much I've even cleaned up after without grumbling).  :)  Here is what I made tonight:
One Pan: Chicken Broccoli and Rice

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups uncooked instant white rice *
• 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli flowerets

Directions

• Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
• Stir the soup, water, paprika and black pepper in the skillet and heat to a boil. Stir in the rice and broccoli. Reduce the heat to low. Return the chicken to the skillet. Sprinkle the chicken with additional paprika and black pepper. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked though. Yield: 4 servings.
  
  *For a creamier dish, decrease the rice to 1 1/2 cups.

I used 1 1/2 cups of rice and let it sit longer on the stove after returning the chicken to the pan.  I think the flavors blended together more this way giving everything a little more flavor.  Even Addison got to enjoy parts of this dinner.  
  
Here is what I made on Monday night.  It was good and very filling.  It made plenty of leftovers for Cody and I too.  Addison did not get any of this dish (little too much spice for her and of course the hot dogs are too big of a choking hazard, even when they were cut small).  

Ingredients

• 1 package (8-1/2 ounces) corn bread/muffin mix
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Olive Oil
• 1 package (1 pound) hot dogs, halved lengthwise and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 can (15 ounces) chili with beans
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions

• Prepare corn bread batter according to package directions. Spread half the batter into a greased 8-in. square baking dish; set aside.
• In a large skillet, saute the green pepper, onion and celery in oil until crisp-tender. Stir in hot dogs; saute 3-4 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Stir in the chili, brown sugar, garlic powder and chili powder; heat through. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese.
• Spoon over corn bread batter; top with remaining corn bread batter. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. 

I used two packages of corn bread because I may have used more than half as the base, and there wasn't enough to cover the mixture.  I also used a round pan instead of square, because it's all I had.  I would recommend a bigger pan, because an 8 inch round pan caused a lot of spilling in the oven.  Lucky for me, I thought to put a cookie sheet under the round pan, so my mess was a little easier to clean up.  I also didn't use the garlic powder.  I thought I had some, but didn't.  I did not notice it missing at all.  I think this will be a great dish in the fall, or maybe even for a Superbowl Party this winter because it just reminds me of comfort food and football!

Happy cooking everyone!!!! 

A Day at the Park

Tonight, we decided to take Addi to Rayner Park here in Mason.  I have not been there since I was a kid, and it was fun to play on the equipment again with Addi.  The weather was beautiful, and we were able to capture some great pictures of her.  Enjoy!!

Daddy and Addison

Yes, we were all sporting our Tigers t-shirts tonight.  Have to support our favorite team!

Vacation, Crawling and Reflecting....it's just been too long

WOW!!  I have really been slacking on my blog lately.  Here it is July 1st and I haven't updated in close to 2 months now!!  I will apologize now if this ends up getting a little long, I have a LOT to update everyone on. 

First of all, our first family vacation was AMAZING!  We went to Orlando, FL with my parents.  Addi's first time on an airplane made me a little nervous because I was unsure that she would be ok to sit still for the two and a half hour plane ride, or how she would handle the changing air pressure.  She did AWESOME!!!  We got so many compliments after the plane ride about what a good baby she was and how people were so impressed with her disposition the whole time.  And other than a diaper changing incident in the TINY airplane bathroom, it really was a good flight. 
The whole trip was nice because we got to stay at a resort, and lounge by the pool and walk to the outlet mall.  My parents were very generous to allow us to have our own suite so that we could keep Addi's schedule as close to normal as possible.  Addison had a blast swimming in the pool and in the OCEAN!  She is definitely my little water baby.

 She got to meet her Grandma Holley for the first time, and although the visit was short, I know Addi had a blast. 

She also got to meet her Uncle Bill, Aunt Char and cousins Aaron and Dalton.  I am pretty sure they all loved her.  Probably my favorite quote from the visit was from Dalton when we all went out to CiCi's pizza for dinner..."Addison is always impressing everyone!"  I couldn't agree more!

 

A couple weeks after we got home from Florida, Addison took off crawling!!  She is now constantly on the go and getting into EVERYTHING!!!  Watching her really discover the world around her is so much fun to watch.  She's found parts of our house that she really never knew before (including the animals water bowl), and is always showing us where we need to work on the baby proofing.  :-)

 

I know it won't be long before my little girl starts walking, and this realization has had me reflecting on the last (almost) 9 months.  First of all, the 9 months it took to get her here did not go by nearly as fast as the 9 months that she has been here!  I am constantly amazed by that.  She is really becoming a little person who is such a sweet little girl.  She has the most contageous laugh and smile, she gives the best snuggles and is very determined to do things.  I think one of my favorite parts about Addi is that she is a patient girl and doesn't get upset when things don't go her way.  For example, pulling herself up to things.  When she couldn't do it right away, she just kept trying and trying.  She really never got upset by the amount of time it took to get it right.  There are so many things about her personality I am just in awe of.  She is such a good mix of me and Cody.  I think she got the best of both of us.  She can be our little "Chatty Addi" (like me) but then she's so laid back and mellow (like Cody).  I just can't help but be so thankful for the amazing blessing that she is to our life.