Seven Months Goes by So Fast When You Are Having THIS Much Fun!

Around our house lately, things have been good. School is going well for Randy, Wesley is growing like crazy, Che is hoppy and ridiculously cute as ever, and I'm hanging in there! Recently we have been introducing Wes to more and more foods, and I've been having fun making them myself. My beautiful cousin Sarise gave me a food mill when I had Wes, and it has been really fun to use it. Plus it saves so much money!! And seriously, these days we are all about saving money.

My sister-in-law Joy has been helping me in that department with her many coupon-shopping skills. This woman has amazing shopping skills, and the patience to do it. My best purchase in recent history? Today I hit Albertsons with some double coupons and got about $20 worth of Boca products for $3.15, including tax. Yeah, I was pretty happy with myself after that. Plus their "chick'n" nuggets are sooooo yum. One of these days I need to find a good recipe to make my own, because they are so delicious.

My little garden is coming along, and I am so proud of my little tomato plants! Their leaves have differentiated (one of the few things I remember from my ill-fated course with the deceptively easy name, "living with plants) and they look nice and strong. I'm lucky that Randy doesn't eat tomatoes, because when my little babies produce I get them all to myself!

And of course, my sweet Wesley. Grandma has been waiting for these pictures too long, so here you go! Here is my Seven-month old boy (tomorrow) in all his cuteness:

A sweet moment with Daddy.

Our laid back little guy.

I looked at him in his high chair the other day, and I thought, "when did you grow up?"

Sitting up by ourselves! Of course, the boppy is still good to have nearby in case I lose my balance . . .

How funny is this shot? I love Wesley's little diaper hanging out . . .

And last but not least, here is a recipe that I have been loving lately, especially with the hot weather. We drink a lot of smoothies around our house--they are good for you (as long as you are adding fruit and not ice cream!) and are a nice desert alternative. Especially for those of us trying to lose the baby weight, ahem. Anyway, I ran across this recipe for a green smoothie on the Passionate Homemaking blog, and decided to try it out. I'll be honest--I was a little nervous to take the first sip (Randy turned up his nose and wouldn't try it) but it is seriously yummy, and a great way to get your fiber, iron, calcium, and antioxidants. Really good. I don't always use coconut milk--just a combination of soy milk and fruit juice. And let's be honest--I use regular sugar instead of stevia, because I'm just that cheap right now.

Green Smoothie:

1 1/2 cups of liquids (you can use a combination of water, coconut/soy milk, or juice)
3 oz or more of fresh greens I (about two or three large handfulls--I used baby spinache)
2-3 TB orange juice concentrate

After these ingredients are thoroughly blended, you can add a sweetener like honey or stevia, and an assortment of fruit.

So far I have tried frozen raspberries, canned pears, and canned peaches. All delicious! I think a banana would be really great in there as well. Canned or fresh pineapple would make a yummy tropical one.