Lil's first KU game! Oh and rice pudding!!

Gosh this seems so long ago, I have got to catch up!  Anyway, dad was at the game so Gigi and Aunt Betsy came over to watch the game with Lillian and I.. thought these jams were appropriate!  She had really started taking an interest in the fan...

Hurray for the game!

We also laid on the play mat for the first time.. she seemed to like it.

My little love bug snoozer..

I made some yummy rice pudding from my favorite recipe out of the Merc News {the co-op grocery store in Lawrence that I love + miss} and just thought it looked so pretty so wanted to share.

Kheer {rice pudding}

2 C coconut milk {I do use the lite version}

2 C milk {I use almond or coconut, both unsweetened}

3 T sugar

1/2 C Basmati rice {doesn't seem like much, but it makes quite a bit}

1/4 C raisins

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 C sliced toasted almonds

1/4 C pistachio nuts {optional.. I don't usually have them so I just put them almonds on top}

Bring coconut milk, milk and sugar to a boil in a large saucepan. Add rice, and simmer over low heat until the mixture thickens and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in raisins and cardamom, and cook for a few more minutes. Ladle into serving bowls and top with almonds and pistachios if you have them.

Lillian started making some fun facial expressions.. enjoy.

"what you lookin' at?"

"ah, come on.."

throwin' punches!

"I win!"

She's just doing the hand jive!

such a cheese!

ah, that's enough.. tired now..

We had woken up to this crazy stuff, I couldn't believe it so I had to take a picture.. snowing in late March just doesn't seem right.

SISTERS!!

Isabelle is such a goof ball.. posing with her sister!

 Lillian is like, "uh, mom, a little help here"..

 muah!

Iz just loves her baby sister, she says, "I love you so much Lillian".. which melts me and makes me so happy!  I'm so glad she says that instead of "take her back mom".. 

I love sleepy faces!

and her little fist :).

It has been so fun to watch Isabelle with Lillian.. sometimes she gives her love squeezes and sometimes she says, "put her in her swing mom, put her down", which always makes me laugh.. she does want me to hold her a lot, especially while I'm holding Lillian, so I've mastered one in each arm!  Probably not the safest thing, but hey, we make it work!

Happy day to dad!!

My little helper!  We made one of daddy's favorite cakes for his birthday dinner {the strawberry swirl one I have posted several times}.

I feel like I always forget to take a picture of the cake when it's done before covering up how pretty it looks...

and we thought this one looked like a heart..

Izzy girl.. loves to touch everything {just like her mom! and Sue Sue.. hmm, wonder where we get it from ;)}.

Jacob also loves carrot cake and I saw this recipe in the Family Fun magazine in the doctor's office so I took pictures of the recipe, part of it got cut off so I tried googling it in the magazine and couldn't find it.. luckily this mom saw it too and blogged about it with the recipe {thank you Holly at Nap Time!}.  I just thought the carrots were so pretty and bright orange..

And once again, I forgot to take a picture of the whole pan after they came out of the oven, so here is one piece.  The recipe doesn't say to frost them, but Jacob is a huge fan of frosting, so I iced half of them.. they were good both ways- I ate the ones without frosting for breakfast and with frosting for dessert :).  Oh and I recommend warming them up before consuming!

Bunny Blondies.. aka Carrot Cake Bars {to me}

8 medium carrots (about 1lb)

2.5 cups flour {I did half whole wheat, half white}

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2.5 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 sticks butter (softened) - it doesn't specify but I used unsalted

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Place oven rack to center and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.

2. Peel and grate the carrots using a box grater. (You want about 3 cups total.) {I used the mini food processor, much faster!}

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt. 

4. Using a mixer, blend butter with both sugars until pale and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the eggs and the vanilla and continue beating on medium speed until well blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the carrots. Mix in butterscotch chips and walnuts. 

5. Gradually add flour mixture (the recipe says to do this with a wooden spoon, but I just slowly added it to the mixer). Pour batter into pan and spread evenly (it will be thick). 

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway. 

7. Let cool completely before serving. {I actually recommend eating them before they cool, so good warm}

An 'after' pic of the strawberry cake..

Giddy up horsey and the jungle.. who knows, my girl is such a goof ball!

I thought I would put Lillian in this cute 'I love daddy' outfit from her cousins for dad's birthday, only appropriate right?  Too bad it was on for 5 minutes before she totally blew it out!  I mean, all the way up her back, all over the place.. yuck!  Nevermind that idea..

I noticed how bloated her tum was after I took the picture.. I should have known it was coming!

Wardrobe change and pass out :).

We had a great birthday dinner celebration at Gigi and Papa's, it's hard to believe it's been a year since his last birthday and when we moved to Salina! 

Isabelle did so good at singing to dad..

Me and my sleeping pictures.. just can't resist that face with her pouted lip..

:: Lillian's 4 wk doc appointment ::

Isabelle loved going to Lillian's doctor appointment, there were so many things for her to play with and look at.

Poor girl was asleep, then had to take her clothes off to get weighed, so I had to feed her before the doc came in so she was happy, but of course she feel asleep again and got woken up again when the doc came in.. I just felt so bad for her, but that's the way it is in the early months!

No surprise, our girl grew another inch and gained 2 lbs!  She was off the charts in both height and weight!

23.3" long {>97}, 12lbs 7oz {>97%}, head circumference 38.3cm {78%}

Iz loves the doctor's stool, {which I recently read a sign on the wall saying, "don't let your children play on the doctor's stool".. oops, missed that!} she wants to sit on it anytime we are in a doctor's office.

Just looking so grown up :(!

and she's out.. again!

stretch!

snuggle time with my girls.. wish I didn't look so terrible!

Thankfully it was nice enough to take a little stroll and it just made Isabelle's day that you can move the handle down on the stroller so she can reach... such a big sister!

Dance party!!

St. Patty's Day!

We left Sue Sue's on Sunday, which happened to be St. Patrick's Day.. I used to love St. Patty's Day, get all dressed in green and party all day- it's crazy how times have changed!

Izzy girl shocked my mom and I by just picking up Pearl like a sack of potatoes and Pearl not seeming to mind.

I was so tired driving home and realized this was my company.. everyone got a nap but me!

I think Lillian was the only one sporting the green...

my little leprechaun.

little love bug ready for bed... yes, friends, that is a KState burp cloth!

:: Lillian at 4 weeks ::

Lucy just keeping watch...

Yay, I'm 1 month old!!

My gram gave us this super cute nautical outfit and I new the life of it was going to be short lived with how big Lillian was/is so I had to get as many pics as I could.

~size 1 diapers, but will be moving to size 2 once we are out of 1's!

~wearing 3 month clothing and some 3-6 month

~you are drinking about 4 oz of breast milk

~you sleep most of the day, wake up to eat and then go back to sleep for about 3 hours

~you are definitely in that 'witching hour' faze of screaming for at least an hour at night before bed and waking up 2-3 times during the night

~you are such a snuggle bug and that's awesome!

~you can track pretty well with your eyes and hold your head up while being held.. so many times I try to get you to just lay on my shoulder and your head pops right up, like a little turtle :)

~your eyes are blue, but I keep holding out hope that they will change to dark brown like mine :)

~you have such a tight grip with those little fingers

We love you so much and are excited to watch you grow and bond with your sister Isabelle.. she is so anxious for you to be big so you can play with her.

This was so funny, Sue Sue was scratching Lucy so much, she just laid her head on the table and could not keep her eyes open... rough life.

I got my first night away to go to the basketball game {I did make sure Lillian was fed and had a good 3 hours of sleep while I was gone so it wasn't too bad for my mom} and it was so nice!  I took these pictures of the Jayhawks for Isabelle, she just loves them and she was sad she didn't get to go to the game.

us.

I just love the streamers when they win!

My first beer {with Bets}!  I'm not even a huge beer drinker, but it tasted so good!

We had dinner at Thomas, that was a spot Jacob wanted to eat for his birthday {also where we ate for mine, so we are both big fans}, so it was nice to be able to go and that I got to go with him... I secretly told the waitress it was his day and she brought this delicious piece of chocolate cake.. I'm not a huge chocolate cake person and this thing was unreal!  AND, they have a great piano player that will play anything {he sounds like James Taylor}, so he sang happy birthday to Jacob, it was pretty great :).

Thank you mom for letting me get a few hours away!