Score: Mommy - 0; Hayden - 5,753

I just put this book on reserve at the library, if that gives you any idea as to the day we're having here:
 

I was looking back at some old entries on the blog and I ran across this one from Hayden's first month.
In a few months, you'll be sitting up, then crawling, walking, and pretty soon after that saying things like, "NO! I do it myself!" So when I stumble out of bed after a less than restful night's sleep, I try to remind myself to enjoy every second...even the ones in the middle of the night.

I must've been some kind of fortune teller because I think I've heard, "NO! I do it myself," about 400 times today. Or more likely, I just knew that he'd be 2 1/2 one day. And when he's 15, I'll probably be thinking 2 1/2 was a walk in the park!

Oh, sweet Hayden, it's a good thing you're so dang cute.

 

The resolution is still alive!

Honest, I'm not as far behind as it seems on my resolution. Here are two of the more memorable recipes from the past few weeks. If ripping out recipes that sounded good and dog-earring pages in recipes books counted, I'd be way ahead of the game.

Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken (Julie, I know you'll be all over this one)
 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. paprika
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 c grey poupon
1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp curry powder

Saute the onion in the olive oil. Sprinkle chicken with paprika and salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook chicken until browned on both sides and remove from pan (keep warm). Mix rest of the ingredients, dump it in the skillet and add the chicken back. Tada!

Enchiladas that Justin raved about (and Claire declared "yucky")...
 
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and cubed/shredded
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 cup sour cream
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can black beans
1 can corn
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
cilantro to taste
enchilada sauce
flour tortillas

Mix it all together. Dip the tortillas in the enchilada sauce, stuff 'em, roll 'em up and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle jack cheese on top for the last 5 minutes or so. The recipe says it makes 6 enchiladas, but somehow I got 10 (and mine were not little at all).

In keeping with the "chowtime" theme, here's Hayden's newest hobby. He BEGS me to feed Reid every day, which would be much sweeter if he didn't try to shove the spoon down his throat.
 
 

Happy Valentine's Day

...from the wee Sumners!

 
 
 

We celebrated with gobs of candy from the grandparents and dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, where Reid was so excited to sit in a high chair for the first time that he dove into the table and gave himself a bloody nose! In better Reid news, he slept through the night for the first time on Thursday - over 11 glorious hours.

Look Who's Crawling

Reid started crawling a few weeks ago, and since then, he's been able to find trouble and filth with amazing speed and dexterity. His latest hobbies include finding every single thing on the floor that I don't want him to touch and wrecking whatever Hayden is doing or playing with (earning big brownie points with Big Bro). It's hard to believe he'll be eight months old tomorrow.

"Aw, do I look like a troublemaker?"
 
In action
 
Raisin' the roof
 
I think he's officially outgrown the infant bathtub.
 

We're settling in to the new house and our new routines. Claire has started at her new preschool, which is at a church around the corner (literally eight houses away). It's so great to not have to pile everyone in the car for the trip (again, unicorns and rainbows), but with over a foot of snow on the ground, our walks are long and meandering and involve lots of snowballs, snow eating, and romping through the neighbors' yards. I'm sure in the spring, we'll transition to grass necklaces, flower picking, and mud puddle jumping.

I finally have a new laptop ("Toppy 3" to those who know him well), so pictures are back. Here's a pic of the outside (immediately post-snowstorm) and a couple of Claire's room (which will be done as soon as her new (PINK!) rug arrives).

 
 
 
 

In a last bit of unicorns and rainbows, today I hired an amazing babysitter to watch the kids for six hours on Fridays. Among a long list of impressive criteria, she speaks fluent Russian and has spent a good bit of time working in orphanages in Russia and even started a non-profit to help the kids who are still in the orphanages. All this and she's like 26. It was all I could do not to jump up and down and clap my hands like a fool while I was talking to her. I can now take Claire to gymnastics and not get my own gymnastic workout in by having to chase Hayden around for an hour, do grocery shopping alone (glorious!), and heck, maybe even do a thing or two for myself. She starts next week and the kids are almost as excited as I am.