Finger food made easy!

Now that Ariyana is nearly ten months old, she much prefers to feed herself finger foods. I can't say I blame her, eating off my chest and endless bowls of mush every day. So, I'll be the first to admit, I don't have much of any idea of what to feed a 'still-baby', that won't make her choke, make her go into anaphylactic shock and/or hate. 


So after some trial and errors, I've found that she loves chicken. And peas, and cheese, and well - just about most things. Oh, except the Gerber 3rd stage foods; yeah, she spit that out at me. 


So - on to making the chicken a la infant. 
This recipe is so easy. This is about as basic as it gets. 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

I dried to boneless, skinless chicken breast with a paper towel and put a touch of olive oil on each one, and seasoned it with Emeril's Original Essence Seasoning. Let it bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

And then you have this. I've already started cutting up each chicken breast into Ariyana bite sized pieces. Highly recommend, you cut them up as small as your little one can handle. And I insist in monitoring while baby eats. Duh. 

Spread out each piece of chicken fairly evenly onto a baking sheet. And put it in the freezer until frozen. Doing it this way will ensure that the chicken freezes individually rather than having one big lump of chicken in a bag

After the chicken in frozen, transfer to an appropriately sized Ziplock Freezer bag. I take out what I need for each feeding, and this amount of chicken lasts us a couple of weeks. Not bad, for little effort! Quick and easy! 

Getting too quick!

I don't pull out my nice Nikon SLR camera as much as I should. My phone is always handy so I take quite a few quick shots of Ariyana, any time she's being cute - which ends up being all day long. My phone often makes me delete photos cause I'm running out of room. 
Lately, Ariyana has become less interested in being cute for the camera, and just so darn fast. Most of her photos are a blur. 
Like this:

But every once in a while, I can get a somewhat cute shot, like this:

Too bad she wasn't smiling. She's too cute anyhow. 

That "Mouse"

I guess it never really will matter how many generations go by - but the one thing that just seems to get better and better - is that Mouse. I'm trying not to make television a habit, but to be honest, the t.v. is on quite a bit. I'm gonna try and work on changing that. Yes, I can admit my faults. But anyways, what is it that is so captivating to the young about Mickey Mouse and his friends? It captivated me, I love Disney and can't wait to go back to the parks. Ariyana doesn't do this with any other show, but Mickey's Playhouse. 

It's Been Ten Years

Suffice it to say, 9/11/01 touched millions of people very deeply. Today, as my family took time to remember the lives that were lost and the sacrifices of thousands in the wars after, I realize just how blessed we really are. Today, we spent the day out at my husbands Army Reserve Unit in Niagara Falls. It was our military Family Day complete with good food, good company and an air show. It's not just a big ten year anniversary that we all take time to reflect and all that we have to be thankful for, but I'm trying to remember this every day. That my family is healthy, safe, and we are free. 

My Daddy is my Hero in boots

He thinks I'm pretty nifty too!

He even protects me when I'm scared. 

The jets at the air-show were pretty, crazy loud!

Grandparent's weekend

I've been truly blessed to have the family that I do have. Distance keeps me apart from many of them, but they never leave my thoughts. We were grateful this weekend, that my Dad was able to come down and see us in Buffalo, while he was on the East Coast with Kaley. 
I'm so happy that Ariyana got to bond with her Grandpa, and I am able to see my Dad more than I had been. We will work towards a trip out to see him eventually, I'm sure. I'm sad that he's so far away now - think a couple thousand miles away. 

Backyard play

Buffalo summers seem so short sometimes. I've been loving that we've been having such a nice Western New York summer. I don't want it to end. Today was a particularly warm day. Ariyana was stripped down to diaper and a cover shorts and we explored the backyard as a family. I love every moment and cherish them as I know these memories can't ever be replaced. You can't go back in time. 

Through the eyes of a child, even the littlest things are amazing.

And every amazing thing - must go in the mouth immediately. 

Our two little kids.

Morning People

I'll be the very first to admit that I'm soooo not a morning person. No, really - I drag for a good hour after I wake up. It's safe to say that coffee has become an intimate friend of mine for quite a while. My daughter on the other hand - is by far the happiest morning person ever. Luckily, that brings me out of my morning funk a good twenty minutes early!

How could you not be impressed with this morning face?!

YAY! Oatmeal!