Dedicated to Corinne

When I found out I was pregnant my friend, Corinne, told me she would help me make crib bedding. I still have Colby's crib bedding, but because I was sooo positive baby #4 would be a boy I sold my girl crib bedding and sold/gave away all but my favorite my baby girl clothes. Good thing I had Corinne, since we now have Ila! Many hours were spent looking at crib sets online and online fabric stores, trying to figure out the right combo and what look to go with. At first I thought I wanted a modern flower print in pinks and greens, but then we found a set that was a large damask print. So we headed in that direction and found a smaller damask print in pink and green. It was perfect, meant to be. Many hours were also spent making the bumper, Corinne tutoring me along the way.

I found out we were moving before we had finished. We rushed to finish the bumper, and Corinne finished the bed skirt and mailed it to me. My mom made the matching quilt. When we found the fabric we had to jump on it because it was 20% off and I was able to get another dollar amount off. It ended up close to $4/yard! (i.e. GREAT price.) So I bought a bunch of coordinating fabrics to go into the quilt. I love it. It is perfect with Ila's (...or Grandpa's) crib.

I miss you Corinne, I'll never be able to forget you every time I lay Ila down or get her out of bed! Thanks for your help and friendship. :) I promised pictures, better late than never!!
PS Sorry the ties aren't in bows.....

Ila Jo - baby model

Okay, not really, and I know I'm biased, but I'm a proud mama and think she could pull it off.
Remember my bestest, most generous friend, Tina, who watched Quin? (previous post) Well she is also an insanely talented professional photographer. Here is a taste of Ila's six month shoot.

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March to the End of the School Year

We had our house up for sale for a few weeks before we left Texas, but no bites, so we moved up to Boise and were lucky enough to have Jason's parents to live with. They have plenty of room, but even with all the room in the world 4 kids and two extra adults living in your home would be overwhelming. So, we gave Patty and Ernie all the breaks we could by going up to my parents' cabin every weekend possible. I guess that is off season in Cascade because we had the place all to ourselves it seemed. We were also able to pick up Quin (from my AMAZING friend Tina's house, who so generously let her stay) and she would come with us. I think the kids almost forgot we had dog.
The most gorgeous drive...especially spring when everything was still green.











Lilia fell in.

















We went up for Memorial Day weekend with my parents and the VanderLouws. It was so much fun. These kids love their cousins. That right there is one of the, if not the, best thing about moving back to Boise. They got along smashingly. That's a saying, right?
Little cousins, minus Ila.


Colby and Elliot playing Angry Birds. (peas in a pod, peas in a pod)


Grandpa 'tello and Ila (one of the few times he was out of the shop.)


Grandma 'tello and Ila


Maggie and Ila


Jason and my dad made a Boise State picnic table over the weekend.





Lilia chopped her hair (ahhhhhh!!!!)


We found our house!! We made our first offer June 5th and didn't close until mid August. I'm skimming over that frustrating time. We decided to rent out our Texas house and find a cheaper house to buy because we had to be in something before school started, and right now in Boise it is so much cheaper to buy than rent.


Eva turned 5 and had a birthday party at Pojos.
Emma and Eva





And Colby graduated from kindergarten!





Colby and Mrs. Donovan.


So there it is. The summer was just as fun.
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Delish Soup

I made this soup today and loved it. Surprisingly, so did the rest of my family. That usually doesn't happen on any given night unless we are eating corn dogs or spaghetti, but even more surprising because it sort of reminded me of split pea, in a way, but I'm really the only one who likes that. So enough of that, here it is. I got this from Kalyn's Kitchen blog. You can google it, she has tons of amazing recipes. (I thought about taking a picture from her blog since I didn't take any, but is that legal?) Enjoy!

Crockpot Recipe for Red Lentil, Chickpea, and Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika

1 large yellow onion, diced small
1 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. Vege-Sal (or use 1/2 tsp. salt)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 cup red lentils
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed
5 C chicken or vegetable stock (or use 3 cans chicken or vegetable broth)
2 cans petite dice tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz. can)
sour cream or plain yogurt for serving, optional

Heat olive oil in frying pan and saute the diced onion until it's soft and starting to brown lightly, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried thyme, Vege-Sal, and black pepper and saute 2-3 minutes more, or until spices are fragrant.

Add onion-spice mixture to CrockPot, then rinse out the frying pan with 1 cup of the stock and add to crockpot along with red lentils, rinsed chickpeas, and rest of stock. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until lentils are starting to soften and dissolve into the soup. (I cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours. Cooking time will depend partly on how old the lentils are.)

When lentils are starting to soften, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice. Cook for 1-2 hours more on high, or until the lentils and chickpeas are both quite soft. Then remove about 1/2 the soup to a bowl (or the large 8-cup measuring cup I had worked perfectly.) Puree the soup you removed using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (If you're using a food processor or blender, be very careful with the hot soup, pureeing in batches if necessary.)

Stir the pureed soup back into the soup in the CrockPot; taste and add more salt or fresh ground black pepper if desired. Let soup cook about 15 minutes more, then serve hot, with sour cream of plain yogurt if desired.



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6 months have flown by

I've come to the realization that I'm a terrible blogger, but I want to change that. My sister uses her blog as a family journal and had the first 3 years of her blog turned into a book. I want to do the same. So I'm going to start here and go back and work on the last few eventful months.
Ila Jo is six months old! Half a year ago this baby was introduced to the world. It's hard to believe that much time has gone by. Everyone in this family loves her so much. I'm not sure what we'd do without her. Colby and Eva have perfected their baby talk. I guess Lilia uses it sometimes too.
I want to remember what she was like at six months.
-Ila doesn't laugh very often, but when she does it's always for one of her siblings.
-She loves being outside, whether it's sitting in her bouncer or going for a walk.
-She has been sleeping through the night since she was 2 months old.
-She is happiest first thing in the morning when I come to get her out of her crib. Biggest and best smile of the day goes to me every morning and I love being the recipient.
-Ila got her first tooth August 17th, and the second followed within the week.
-She rolled from her belly to back the same day she got her first tooth, but she doesn't care to roll around much yet. She's happy to lay on the ground and let everyone come to her.
-She has two girl cousins born 2 months to either side of her, and I have a feeling they'll be best friends as they grow up. Norah was born in January and Lola was born in June.
-At her six month appointment she was 15 lb 10 oz and 25.75 inches long. 50th percentile all around. Our average baby. :)
-She started eating solids at 5 months, and this time around I am making all of her baby food. It's so much easier than I ever expected it to be. Her favorites are butternut squash, peas, and plums.
-She's babbling, cooing, and grunting all of the time.
-She loves her daddy and stares and stares at him when he gets home until she gets his attention.
-She is a total people watcher.
-She is starting to have stranger anxiety. She liked the doctor at her appointment yesterday but cried when the nurse came in for shots and started talking to her.
-We all call her Jo Jo. (and Ila and Ila Jo)
Ila Jo is gorgeous and happy and I love her. Time better slow down a little so I can appreciate her as a baby as long as possible.

Easter





Blessing





2 months





2 months (taken by aunt Becky)





3 months





Ila and her great-grandma Christensen





4 months





Lola and Ila





Lola, Norah, and Ila





Pretty girl





5 months old and first time eating solids





6 months

The Many Faces of Colby

I was just looking through the pictures on my phone when I came across these gems.














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She's 5!

Eva had a fantastic day!!! It started when she got to wear her new (to her) big blue tutu skirt and only got better from there.
She got to play wii, which is currently a strictly Saturday activity.
She got to help make pink cupcakes. (With pink frosting!)
She had a birthday party! We've decided to start doing bday parties every other year for the kids, starting at age 5. It was so exciting and so fun!!!
She got a Hello Kitty razor scooter!! And a big girl bike with no training wheels!!!! Now she doesn't have to ride Colby's boy bike.
And she got to stay up until 10:00.
What a lucky girl.
I love Eva so much. Honestly, when there is chaos surrounding me I can always count on Eva, at least, to listen to me. I'm not kidding when I say she keeps ms sane. She is a pretty exceptional little girl. She wants to choose the right, she is the greatest helper (especially with Ila,) and she is quite the fashionista! Our family would be lost without that girl.


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