Monday, December 28, 2009

Do You Sleep Standing Up Too!?

Lately Hailey has been really good about just going right in her crib and not crying as much as she used to, or hardly at all. But her new (and funny) thing lately is... she gets up when we walk out of her room and close the door and ends up falling asleep on her crib. STANDING UP! Lol. I couldn't stop laughing the first time I went to check on her and seen her like that! Not to mention she's done it a few times since! One thing I like though is when we wake her up and say, "lay down" she throws her body down to the bed and "goes nite nite." Only to get back up when we leave to do it all over agian! Lol! It lasted for an hour last night!

Here is the first time she fell asleep standing up.


Her second time in one day!


Sad but Funny!


Another thing that Mom (not so much Dad) is very proud of is that Hailey has gone "poo poo on the pody" or in her words "pooooooop!" twice now! The first time she went on the big kid potty (we didn't have a little potty yet) and I only made her bc Drew and I had been putting of buying diapers for ever! We thought we had plenty for at least a few more days... turns out, we were down to one at 7 in the am! So when I had taken Hailey out of the bath I let her run around to air dry (plus she likes being nakey!) and i noticed her grunting a little... so I grabbed her and asked is he was going poop... she shook her head yes! So I said lets go poo poo in the pody! I took her in and sat her on our toilet and she cried for a half hour! She was so stressed out but I couldn't let her use the LAST diaper! She cried for Daddy (which she has NEVER done before) and finally she went! I was trying to clap for her and say yay! to make it a positive thing but she was just not having it! Lol! She gave me dirty looks for the rest of the day! Haha! Well I decided a couple days ago that we needed to get Hailey her own potty... maybe she wouldn't be so scared of it! Today she was sitting in her high chair eating lunch and she looks at me and goes, "Uh oh!!" I didnt' see her drop anything or do anything else that required (in her opinion) an uh oh! So I asked her if she had to go poop. She said yes! So I took her to her little pody and sat her on it. At first she cried and then she was okay when I was "going pody too". She played with my nail polish for a good ten minutes before she finally went! As soon as she did she got up and turned around and pointed and said, "Mommy, Uh Oh!!!" Lol! I never laughed so hard in my life! Apparently she doesn't get that its ok to poop where she did! So for all of that she got to flush the toilet (something she tries to do every time Drew and I are going to the bathroom! Lol.)and turn off the light in the bathroom!
We (Mostly Mom!) are so proud of her! I think Dads dreading the day she grows up! :]

Here is Hailey's new big potty! Comes equipped with built in wipes container and your toddlers own personal pull out toilet paper roller! (and a cup to stop little men from peeing on the outside of the toilet! Lol.. something we don't have to worry about!!! Yet... ;D )

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Fisherman's Retreat. It was our first time there but my family has gone a few times. We ate Thanksgiving Lunch and made it back just in time for the Fishy Fam's Thanksgivng Dinner so it all worked out well. :]


Drew, Hailey, & I by the lake.


My cousin Devin with Hailey


Hailey and Dad.




My brother Zach.


My sister Riley and Hailey.


My Dad.


My Mamo and Sister Chelsea.


My sister Chel.


Mom and Dad. :]


Grandma Mary Helen.


My cousin Lex and Drew.


Me n Alexa.


The Family. (Left to Right top): Me, Drew, Chelsea, Zach
(Left to Right Bottom): Hailey, Julia, Riley, Damion, Sydney

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Giraffe's Are One of my Favorite Animals! :D

So this Halloween wasn't at all made out to be what it should have been! Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday! I love cute Halloween decorations and all the parties and dressing up and most importantly all the candy! Well... sadly, the only candy we really have is the left overs from Hailey's first birthday party where we gave out too much and still had too much left over! And the only person dressing up was our poor daughter who was burning up in her costume all night! Oh... and the only decorations I got were from either the Salvation Army or Joann's (after Halloween!) Oh... and lets not forget all the parties we DIDN'T go to. :/ Well... It was still fun I suppose. I mean... getting to dress up your child like a toy doll is awesome enough (something I tend to do 3-4 times on a daily bases. :])! Hailey ended up being a cute giraffe, (it was between that and a Chik-Fil-A Cow! Maybe we will shoot for that one next year! :D)the whole night people kept saying, "Oh! What a cute little boy!", Not paying any attention to her pink shoes and the BIG yellow bow in the giraffe costumes hair! Lol. We managed to hit up three places this year for Halloween. (Same as last year) Drew's family business, my family business, then straight home/to bed! All in all... it was fun watching Hailey run around and falling all over the place looking like a grazing giraffe! Haha. We even ended up going to the pumpkin patch last minute Halloween morning. And.... I DID get to FINALLY carve a pumpkin or two... They were one of my clients and her son and they turned out so cute! Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures but I'm pretty sure we are all tired of seeing all the awesome pumpkin carvings out there for sure! So here are some pictures of our lovely Halloween night/day.

Hailey taking a stroll through the pumpkin patch all by her lonesome. (Apparently she's a big girl now. :])























She just would not smile at the pumpkin patch! She was overwhelmed with all of the different sized orange balls everywhere!















Uh... Can I touch this Mom?












Of course, Daddy can get her to smile!




















I can say Drew and I definitely enjoyed the pumpkin patch too. Its fun watching Hailey frolic around like so.















Our Hailey, Taking a break from homemade donuts at Jolene's house to take a bite out of life. :]



















This is probably the cutest picture ever! We tried this giraffe outfit on her a few months before Halloween and she HATED it! Cried the entire time she had it on! Now she's as happy as a... well.. a giraffe!!!!!!














At the end of a looong night... (Got Tristen to smile! Wait... No, scratch that, I got him to laugh!!!!)














My sister Riley was Dorthy! The cutest Dorthy I'd ever seen! My mom even found a cute dog and a basket that went with it! Lol.




















My little Foster Sister Alyssa as a cute bunny rabbit!














Say Happy Halloween Girls!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Did I Hear Something About Fernbrake?!?!? (A Post for Aaron and Jensine!)

To start... This post is for Arron and Jensine Kinser.

First let me say that I went through many foster/group homes to get to my wonderful parents that I have today. (but, shhh... we don't tell who is bio and who isn't! You would be surprised at how some of us look more like our parents than others and we just so happened to be adopted! :D)
In my looong journey of life/many homes, I stayed with a Korean family for 9 months! And I absolutely LOVE Korean food. Although I didn't learn how to cook most of it... I sure enjoyed eating it! And this would be an awesome goal in life, to learn to cook Korean foods bc all of it is sooo delicious!

So for you Arron and Jensine!
Here are a few recipes you can make with you fernbrake! :]


1: Spicy Beef and Vegetable Soup (Yukgaejang)

Ingredients

1 Lb of beef brisket, half an onion, water, 12 green onions, 5 cups of bean sprouts, fern brakes (kosari),1 stalk of celery, garlic, hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, vegetable oil, salt, soy sauce, and black pepper


  1. In a big pot, add beef brisket, 14-15 cups of water, and half an onion, then boil it for 40-50 minutes over high heat.
  2. Cut the green onions, celery, and fern brakes (kosari) into pieces about 7 cm in length. Put them all into a big bowl.
  3. Put 3 tbs hotpepper flakes, 1 tbs of sesame oil, 1 tbs of vegetable oil, 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs of salt, and some grounded black pepper into a small bowl and mix it. This is your hotpepper oil sauce.
  4. Put the hotpepper oil sauce into the vegetables mixture and mix them all up.
  5. When the beef is well cooked, take it out and set it aside to cool down.
  6. Add the mixture of vegetables and hotpepper oil sauce into the boiling beef stock. Boil it for 20-30 minutes.
  7. Slice the beef thinly and add it into the boiling soup. Cook it about 5-10 minutes more.

Serve with rice. Enjoy it!


2: Japchae (Stir Fried Noodles With Vegetables)

Ingredients:

Starch noodles (dangmyun), 150 grams of beef, 1 bunch of spinach, 1 medium size carrot, 1 medium size onion, mushrooms (5 dried shiitake and 1 package of white mushrooms), 3 cloves of garlic, 7-8 green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, pepper, and sesame seeds.

Makes 4 servings.



How to prepare your ingredients before stir frying:

  1. Soak 5 dried shitake mushrooms in warm water for a few hours until they become soft. Squeeze the water out of them and slice thinly.
  2. Slice a package of white mushrooms (2 cups’ worth).
  3. Cut a carrot into thin matchstick-shaped pieces 5 cm long.
  4. Cut 7 -8 green onions into 7 cm long pieces.
  5. Slice one onion thinly.
  6. Slice 150 grams of beef into thin strips.

Now let’s start!

  1. Boil 2 bunches of noodles in boiling water in a big pot for about 3 minutes. When the noodles are soft, drain them and put in a large bowl.
  2. Cut the noodles several times by using scissors and add 1 tbs of soy sauce and 1 tbs of sesame oil. Mix it up and set aside.
    *tip: Take one sample and taste it to see whether or not it’s cooked properly. If it feels soft, it’s finished.
  3. In the boiling water, add a bunch of spinach and stir it gently for 1 minute. Then take it out and rinse it in cold water 3 times. Remove any grit or dead leaves thoroughly while rinsing. Squeeze it gently to get the water out, then cut it into 5 cm pieces.
  4. Add ½ tbs soy sauce and ½ tbs sesame oil and mix it and place it onto the large bowl.
    *tip: When you drain the hot water from the pot, don’t discard the hot water. Put it back into the pot so you can cook your spinach quickly.
  5. On a heated pan, put a few drops of olive oil and your carrot strips and stir it with a spatula for 30 seconds. Put it into the large bowl (don’t burn it!).
  6. Place a few drops of olive oil on the pan and add your sliced onion. Stir it until the onion looks translucent. Put it into the large bowl with your carrots.
  7. Place a few drops of olive oil on the pan and add the sliced white mushrooms. Stir it for a bit and then put it in the large bowl.
  8. Place a few drops of olive oil on the pan and add your green onions. Stir for 1 minute and put it into the large bowl.
  9. Place a few drops of olive oil on the pan and add your beef strips and your sliced shitake mushrooms. Stir it until it’s cooked well, then add 3 cloves of minced garlic, ½ tbs soy sauce and ½ tbs sugar. Stir for another 30 seconds and then put it into the large bowl.
  10. Add 2 tbs of soy sauce, 3 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs of sesame oil, and 1 ts of ground pepper to the large bowl. Mix all ingredients, then sprinkle 1 tbs of toasted sesame seeds on the top.
  11. Serve with rice and Kimchi, or as a side dish.

3: Bibimbap (Mixed Rice With Vegetables)

Ingredients:

Cooked rice, package of bean sprouts, a bunch of spinach, 2 small size of zucchinis, 5-7 shiitake mushrooms, fernbrakes (kosari), 200 grams of ground beef (about half a pound), 1 small carrot, eggs, soy sauce, hot pepper paste, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and vegetable oil.
For 4- 6 servings.

Recipe:
Arrange everything on a platter.

  1. Cook rice. You can use a rice cooker or a stainless pot.
  2. Next, you need to prepare a large platter to put all your ingredients on. Rinse your bean sprouts 3 times and put them in a pot with a cup of water. Add 1 ts of salt and cook for 20 minutes. Drain water and mix it with 1 clove of minced garlic, sesame oil and a pinch of salt.
    Put it on the platter.
  3. Put your spinach in a pot of boiling water and stir it for a minute. Then rinse it in cold water a few times and squeeze it lightly. Mix it with a pinch of salt, 1 ts of soy sauce, 1 clove of minced garlic and sesame oil. Put it on the platter
  4. Cut 2 small size zucchinis into thin strips, sprinkle them with a pinch of salt, and then mix them together. A few minutes later, sauté them in a pan over high heat. When it’s cooked, it will look a little translucent. Put it on the platter.
  5. You can buy soaked and cooked “kosari” at a Korean grocery store. Prepare about 2 or 3 cups of kosari for this 4 servings of bibimbap. Cut it into pieces 5-7 cm long and sauté in a heated pan with 1 ts of vegetable oil. Stir and add 1 tbs of soy sauce, 1/2 tbs of sugar, and cook them for 1-2 minutes. Add sesame oil. Put it on the platter.
  6. Slice shitake mushrooms thinly and sauté with 1 ts of vegetable oil. Add 2 ts of soy sauce and 1 or 2 ts of sugar and stir it for 2 minutes. Add some sesame oil, and put it on the platter.
  7. On a heated pan, put some oil and 200 grams of ground beef and stir it. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tbs of soy sauce, 1/2 tbs of sugar, a little grounded black pepper, and sesame oil.
    Put it on the platter
    .
  8. Cut a carrot into strips, sauté it for 30 seconds and put it on the platter.
  9. prepare eggs with sunny side up.
  10. Put your rice In a big bowl, and attractively display all your vegetables and meat t. Place the sunny side up egg on the center.
  11. Serve it with sesame oil and hot pepper paste.
  12. Lastly, mix it up and eat!


*For those who can’t tolerate spicy sauce. : )

Green onion sauce:

Chop 4 green onions and put them in a small bowl. Pour half cup of soy sauce in there, and add 1 tbs of sesame seeds, 2 ts of sugar, 1 tbs of sesame oil and mix it up.

Egg soup:

  1. Put a can of chicken broth in a pot, as well as 2 cans of water using the can from the chicken broth. Boil it.
  2. Beat 2 eggs with a fork and pour it into the boiling stock while stirring slowly. Put some salt in it if you want.
  3. Chop 2 green onions
  4. Serve your soup in a small bowl and sprinkle some chopped green onion over the top.


I also kept the video so you can be sure your doing it right! Hope its helpful! I would LOVE to have you guys come do this with us one night!

Enjoy! :0)

www.maangchi.com

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A Whole Lot of Somethings!

We have been so busy lately! Things here and there and everywhere!
Here are some recent things we have had our noses in. :]

Lisa and Ben had Their Baby Boy!

Baby Luke Fisher! Yay!


Uncle Andrew holding Baby Luke in the hospital! Congrats to Ben and Lisa!



Labor Day at Aunt Vickie's! (Andrews Aunt)
We went swimming and ate lunch and swam some more.
Here is Opa swimming with Hailey and Riley.


And Riley laying out and enjoying the sun. :]


Hailey's First Angels Game! :D


Hanging out with Dad before the game.


Playing in the bleechers with Uncle Chris and Gina.


We honestly feel like she had more fun in the parking lot playing with a baseball after the game! Lol.


The boys after the game. Left to right: Andrew & Hailey, Uncle Eddie, Uncle Chris, and Cousin Josh & Laney!



Hailey's First Birthday!!!
Looking at the cupcake like hmmm... What do I do!


This is just the best picture! She is definitely enjoying this cupcake!


Dad helping her out. :]


Hailey sharing with Aunt Jessica!


Some of the kids having a wack at the pinata!
'






Uncle Matthew helping Hailey get candy!


Not sure whats going on. Lol.


Hailey opening her presents! Thanks to all for your gifts! We were so glad you guys came! :]


Awww... Hugs! Thanks to Ella and Heather who helped in many ways!


One way we got the girls to focus their attention away from us ladies in the kitchen! Lol.


A New Fishy!
The Sista N Law Jessica popped out a BEAUTIFUL baby boy! How exciting it was to see him! He is so close in age to Mr. CUTIE PIE Luke which works out perfectly! And Jess got what she wanted... A September baby! :] Congrats you guys. This is our visit to the hospital to see them!

Oma holding Hailey and Braden.


Hailey loves giving kisses!




Riley and Hailey more interested in tissue paper from a present then the baby! Lol.


And one happy family! Congrats guys!






A Blessing... or Two?
This past Sunday my nephew Luke and his little cousin Nathan received a baby blessing.

Little Luke in his all whites!


Opa Max holding Luke.


Uncle Matthew holding Luke.


Oma feeding two grandkids! Better make room for two more Lynne! :D




Riley being silly on the playground.


Going down a slide.


The end of the day after lunch and church! Time to go home!


Hailey was pooped from running around everywhere!




I know this was a long one! Hope you enjoyed! I will try keep my bloggin a flowin! More random recent fun to come soon! :D