Long overdue pictures

What a month!

First - I'll come back and add pictures later.

April - Month Six of Ruby's life, and what a wild ride it has been! She went from sitting up for her six month pictures on April first, to crawling, to now already pulling up and sort of shuffling along the edge of things. Oh, and she got both her bottom teeth at the same time, and it feels as if her top teeth are getting ready to break through as well. My goodness! Add to that my going back to work on the 15th, another round of mastitis, the whole family having an upper respiratory infection, and the worries of Swine Flu - you can only imagine how little (think NONE) free time I've had! Beyond all the craziness though, it has been fun. I have been put in charge of a classroom of two year olds which has been an eye opening experience none the less. Rather than spending my days sitting at a desk watching the clock, I now monitor snack times, bathroom training, sing "If You're Happy and You Know It", and chase after kiddos for 8 hours. The monetary pay is MUCH less than working at TI, but the personal reward is so much greater. When first interviewing, my boss made it sound like she has high hopes for me to promote quickly since I have so much education (although the fact it is engineering doesn't seem to matter). And - for the first time in my career life, I actually WANT to promote. Sooooo - I have high hopes myself for where life is taking me. But for now, I have a mobile daughter who is requiring my attention, so any further updates will just have to wait.

Happy May everyone!

Bluebonnets!!!

Texas tradition: take pictures in the bluebonnets every spring - and that is just what we did! None have been edited or cropped yet, but they are still fun.

Six Month Pictures

Taco Seasoning

Thanks to Ruby, many taco seasonings are even off limits because they contain soy. However, this is a good thing since I've been wanting to find a homemade seasoning anyhow - and I did! This one is a little spicier than the packets we normally would buy, but its delicious and is now what we will use anytime we need taco seasoning. I hope you enjoy it too!

I'll include the measurements for a single serving as well as the measurements if you want to put together a large amount and store it for future use.

INGREDIENTS

SINGLE SERVING

1 Tbl chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp corn starch

BULK

3/4 C chili powder
1 Tbl garlic powder
1 Tbl onion powder
1/2 Tbl crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbl oregano
2 Tbl paprika
1/4 C + 2 Tbl cumin

2 Tbl salt
2 Tbl white pepper

1/4 C corn starch

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients together. Use 3 Tbl and 2/3 cup of water for each pound of browned meat.

Trouble is brewing

And while she's not QUITE crawling, she still is able to move around. I see babyproofing happening REALLY soon.

Ruby starts cereal