10 Months!

Another month has flown by. It is scary how fast it goes. We are having so much fun!

Things we want to remember about Darcy's tenth month:

- Our scale here says she is still about 18 lbs. 12 oz. Because of her checkup last month I have just been shoveling the food in her all day, but she is not gaining weight. We just can't get her out of the 18 lb. range. I really am not worried about it though. She is obviously not starving. She is still 28 inches too.

- Goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8. Wakes up between 6 & 7. Takes two 1 1/2 hour naps a day.

- She crawls all over the place and pulls herself up on everything. This is fun at home, but a challenge at church.

- She loves to talk. It sounds kind of like she is saying "wiggle wiggle wiggle" over and over again. She yells and laughs and fake coughs. She says mama and dada.

- She loves to eat everything, but she also loves to examine her food with her fingers. I will put food in her mouth and she pulls it out and plays with it for a while before she puts it back in her mouth. It makes for quite the messy meals. I do not love the mess.

- We took her swimming for the first time this past week and she loved it.

- She still is a big time mama's girl. She is usually pretty happy with Drew when we're at home, but when we're out and about she just wants me to hold her. I keep wondering how other people go on dates. She totally freaks out if I walk out of the room. Maybe when she's five I guess. :)

- She loves to go for bike rides. She loves to play peek-a-boo.
The close-up. I just love this picture.
Here is the full body shot. It is so hard to get good pictures of her these days, because she doesn't want to sit still.
She is so serious about her water intake. She always throws her head back to get a drink.

Drew's Break

Drew has three weeks off between the end of the semester and when he starts his internship. We are trying to take advantage of this time to do lots of fun things together.

Last week we went to Berlin, OH. We went to see some of the Amish attractions there, but when we got there we found out it was one of the three holidays the Amish celebrate that day and almost everything was closed! What are the chances!? We were kind of bummed. One of the main things we went to see was opened though, so that was lucky. It was Heini's Cheese Chalet. We got to taste a ton of different cheeses and fudges that were oh so good!! Well, I thought some of the cheese was nasty, like the garlic cheese (Drew actually liked them), but most of them were delicious. Smoked swiss was my favorite I think. We came home with a few different kinds of fudge that I devoured way too fast of course. They were soo good! Even though most things were closed we really enjoyed the drive and just walking around the cute little Amish town and seeing them in their buggies, playing volleyball in their yards, rollerblading with homemade rollerblades, riding bikes, and just hanging out in their yards. I really do love the simplicity of that lifestyle.
Drew and Darcy in front of Heini's Cheese Chalet
We stopped for a while and let Darcy get some wiggles out. She preferred sitting on the car to sitting in the grass.

Then on Friday we bought Drew a bike off of Craigslist and got Darcy a bike seat and helmet from Walmart. Saturday we went on an 8 mile bike ride on this really pretty trail that is close to where we live. It was a beautiful day. Darcy ended up falling asleep in her seat. She really loves going for a ride though. It was such an awesome family activity. We want to go for bike rides all the time this summer. We set the camera on a bench along the trail to get a shot of all of us. I told Drew it looks like he is on a serious ride, but we really just went from standing to putting our feet on the pedals. I love camera timers.
Here is a close-up of Darcy. She doesn't look very happy, but she really was. Her helmet was too big and kept falling over her face which wasn't very cool. We came home and rigged it up so that won't happen next time.

There were pavilions and picnic tables all along the trail. After our ride we stopped and ate lunch at this pavilion and had a little photo shoot with Darcy.

Smile

I just took this picture and I can't get over how cute this little face is! I thought I should share.

Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo in case you didn't know. Of course this is not a very typical holiday for us to celebrate, but Drew loves Mexican food and wanted an excuse to make and eat it, and we always love to have friends over so we decided we would have a Cinco de Mayo party. The food was delicious and the company was even better. We had a few very serious rounds of guesstures (If you don't know about this game yet you have got to get it!!) and the girls won every round so for me the night ended with a bang! Here are some pictures and recipes from the party.
Darcy and I all dressed up in our Mexican garb. We tried to come up with a costume for Drew but he didn't have any frilly blouses and none of mine fit ,(...well he wouldn't even try them on) so he didn't dress up at all.
Rich and Brittany brought this delicioso dip! Here is the recipe:

1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 can chili without beans
cheddar cheese, grated

Spread cream cheese in bottom of 9 by 13 pan. Pour and spread chili evenly over top. put grated cheddar cheese on the top and bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Serve with tortilla chips.
We also had these quesadillas that were better than average because at the store they were out of regular flour tortillas and I had to buy sun dried tomato tortillas. Has anyone tried them? They are delish! I want to use those tortillas for everything now.
Drew made the main course which was absolutely magnifico! Seriously! He made chicken and beef tacos on these mini tortillas which he grilled in a frying pan so they were perfectly crispy. You can also see in the picture that he thought we needed radishes because they always have them at the taco wagons. I'm not a fan. Here is the recipe for his taco meat (He used the same spices for the beef but didn't measure them and he added brown sugar which was genius!):

Ingredients:
1 1/2lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs ( about 4-5 )
4 cups water
1 teas. salt
1/3 teas. pepper
1/2 teas. garlic powder
1 teas. onion powder
2 teas. chili powder
1 teas. dry oregano
1/4 teas. cumin powder

Thoroughly wash your chicken and then simply add all of the ingredients to a medium to large skillet, or, sauce pan big enough to hold everything. Bring it to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes with the lid cracked. You’re looking for a nice little bubble.

After about 40 minutes, most but not all of the liquid should have evaporated and the chicken should be falling apart when poked with a spoon or spatula. Go ahead and shred it with your spatula or spoon and remove from heat to cool slightly. It’s ready for tacos.

We added cheese, lots of cilantro, tomatoes, sour cream, and lime juice. They honestly were soo good!
This was our homemade horchata. It turned out really awesome if I do say so myself. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

* 1 cup uncooked white long-grain rice
* 5 cups water
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 2/3 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Pour the rice and water into the bowl of a blender; blend until the rice just begins to break up, about 1 minute. Let rice and water stand at room temperature for a minimum of 3 hours.
2. Strain the rice water into a pitcher and discard the rice. Stir the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar into the rice water. Chill and stir before serving over ice. Yield: 6 cups.
Our friends Ben and Kelly brought the desert. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous Mexican meal! Tres Leche Cake! YUMMO! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
For the cake:

* Vegetable oil
* 6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
* 8 ounces sugar
* 5 whole eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:

* 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
* 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup half-and-half

For the topping:

* 2 cups heavy cream
* 8 ounces sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake:
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Topping:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
I wanted to make little sombreros on toothpicks to put in the drinks, but they ended up being a lot more work than I wanted to put in for such a pointless thing. Drew helped me with the design. :)