Cousins come to play

Yesterday my sister Janette drove out to spend the day here at my parents. It was nice to just sit around and visit and watch the kids play together. Katelyn is 3, Kyle is 1 and Landan 10mos. They interacted so well. Katelyn is such a good big sister and cousin that she loves to play with the younger ones as she feels she is helping out. Landan loves it when his cousins come to play!

4 Generations

We finally were able to take a picture of the 4 generations on Nate's side of the family. We took a quick trip up to Lincoln this last weekend to visit Nate's Nana and Papa. These pictures were very impromptu, hence Landan in his jammies. It was so fun to see them with him and make those special memories with great grandparents. Nate is lucky to still have both his grandparents on his mom side of the family.





Nate, Nana, Judy, Papa and Landan


Landan and his great Grandparents

Ferry Building

I was so happy I finally made the time to go check out the Ferry building in San Francisco. It is so much fun. It was a gorgeous day in the city, you wouldn't have known it was the beginning of February. So much to see and I tried to capture as much as I could on my camera.

Walking up to the Ferry Building


One of my favorite stores!


Such a cute and quaint book store


This was my favorite stop of all... Miette Patisserie, one of the cutest pastry shop I have ever seen.

yummy treats entice you as you walk by

so of course I had to stop and take a closer look



Isn't this Latte pretty ♥


and while I was pursuing my little guy was just hanging out taking it all in.

7-8-9

The last 3 months have been so fun watching Landan grow and develop into the super fun baby that he is today. I love being able to see the comparison of how much he has changed. In December he was much less mobile and just starting to laugh and now he feeds into silliness and loves to horse around. He is such a funny guy and makes me laugh everyday. I sure do love that little guy to pieces. Landan is now 20lbs and rolling all over the place. He doesn't seem to have much interest in crawling but that doesn't stop him from being mobile. He sleeps well and is slowly testing out new flavors on his food palette. I can't believe he is 9 months but I am still enjoying our time together. Each day brings a new discovery in the person he is. His likes and dislikes and how he can communicate with me already. Best of all he has learned how to give "besos" it just melts our hearts. Nate and I have been the lucky recipients of them to date.



7 Months


8 Months (don't mind the crazy hair and the sleepy look, this was right before bedtime)


9 months

December

Since I am so behind, here are some pics to recap the month in short. The month was filled with many milestones for Landan as well as Landan's 1st Christmas, my 3oth birthday and the biggest thing was our move from San Ramon to my parents place the week after Christmas. We had 1 week to pack up the last 8 years of our lives and move out in time for our new tenants to move in and WE DID IT!! We are slowly adjusting to canyon living and I am really loving it there. Right now we are in the main house with my parents but Nate is working hard on fixing up the guesthouse so we can hopefully move in my March. Our December was great and hope yours was too.

Daddy Besos

Reading time

Landan, Mena and I. I love it when she visits all the way from Puerto Rico

Surprisingly Landan was not freaked out by Santa

Pictures with Santa at the mall with Uncle Louie, Auntie Christina, Paige and Emma!

Hanging out on a Friday night!

My 30th Birthday!

The big 30, life has just begun right?

I had such a wonderful day celebrating. Nate surprised me by taking the day off work and treating me to a day of fun with him and Landan. The day started out with breakfast at one of my favorite places (Bette's ocean view diner in Berkely) then we headed to the city to do a little shopping. We walked up to Union Square from Market Street and took some pictures then walked back down and headed home. Once we got home I thought we were going to my parents place for dinner but to my surprise Nate had reservations for dinner at another one of my favorite places (Piatti restaurant in Danville). After dinner we returned home to find my parents, Nate's parents, my sister and her fam all there to celebrate and have dessert. Nate made it a point to make me felt like one lucky gal that day and he succeeded. I look back and I don't think for one moment that I am sad to be turning 30 but yet I look back and think how blessed and am so happy at where my life has come to this point.

Lastly, the best thing about my 30th birthday was how I was able to see how the Lord had answered my prayer. In our waiting time I would just beg the Lord to allow me to have a child by the time I was 30 and I had my son there to celebrate my 3oth birthday with me. Thank you LORD!!

My and my Landan at Breakfast

Daddy's the tickle monster

I love the holiday shopping hustle and bustle in Union Square

Handsome....lucky me.

My favorite holiday dessert. I just love having my birthday right before Christmas!

Rainy Day

One of the rainy days we had last week, I sat Landan in front of the slider door to watch the rain. He loved it. He stared out the window for a while and I got to snap a few fun pics. It was a fun cozy day at home and he and I hung out. I have the best buddy ever!

Landan 6 Months

Half a year over. So bittersweet. Landan started eating solid foods this month foods and growing so big, so fast. He is such a fun baby and I am so happy that I am able to spend so much time with him. I love you my son!

6 Months!

Dressed for the day


Jammie pose




1st time eating solid foods (sweet potatoes)


Mr. Independant wants to feed himself

Sippy cup love

I couldn't tell if he liked the food or the bid more

Sweet potatoes were yum...Avocados not so much

More please

Surprise

OK this is just a little late... but here is what the surprise was. Challah (braided bread), did you guess it right? To go with those yummy Lentils, so much fun to make.



Baked fresh from my oven


The final result

Someones in the kitchen

Ok so with all this staying home business I have been getting in touch with my domestic cooking self. I love trying new recipes as well as perfecting the old ones I love. Here is the latest fun find.

Hearty Lentil and Sausage Soup

Serves 6

This robust one-pot dinner packs in lentils, sausage and plenty of vegetables, including mushrooms, spinach, onions and garlic. A loaf of crusty bread is the only accompaniment you need for a complete meal.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 pound mushrooms (such as white, cremini, shiitake, portobello and oyster), chopped
1 cup (about 7 ounces) dried French or brown lentils, picked through and rinsed
2 1/2 cups beef broth
2 1/2 cups mushroom or low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup chopped tomatoes, with their juice
1 cup dry red wine
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 pound baby spinach, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Method

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent. Add sausage and cook, breaking into small chunks, until it begins to brown. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms have released most of their liquid. Add lentils, beef broth, mushroom or chicken broth, tomatoes and their juice, wine and pepper flakes; cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add spinach and salt and pepper, stir well and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more; stir in thyme. Ladle soup into bowls and top with Parmesan.

Here is the web link to the recipe. I found it on wholefoods market website. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/408








Warm oil and add chopped, carrots, celery, onion and garlic.




Chopped Sausage ( I used Staggs all natural Chicken sausage, Mango Habanero flavor)

Add sausage to veggies

Chopped Crimini Mushrooms

Add Mushrooms to mixture

Chicken and beef broth. I use Better than Bouillon organic Chicken base and Beef base. You just add 1 teaspoon for every 8 oz of water.


My moms canned tomatoes, juice and all.


1 cup of lentils rinsed and ready to go


Add the broth, tomatoes and Lentils and simmer for 30 mins.

Once lentils are cooked.. add fresh spinach stir and simmer again for a few mins.

Enjoy!!


I also have a special surprise I am making with the soup... See if you can guess.....

Ok a little close peak....