Shannon’s World

Scott, Micki and Grace came to visit us when Libby was only 8 days old and it just happened to be St. Patrick’s Day. We reenacted the same picture at Libby’s first birthday party. What a difference a year makes!

Could our Little Leprechaun be any cuter (she’s even got red hair!)?!

Here’s to cheating, stealing, fighting and drinking!
If you cheat, may you cheat death.
If you steal, may you steal a woman’s heart.
If you fight, may you fight for a brother.
And if you drink, may you drink (milk) with me.

We had a traditional Irish meal on Monday night, thanks to my Mom.  She cooked corned beef and cabbage for us and made an awesome Irish Soda Bread.  This meal is easily one of my favorites - I LOVE corned beef and Irish Soda Bread is absolutely delicious.  The meal is pretty easy to make - you cook everything in the same spot and just have to boil it.

Below is the recipe for my Mom’s Irish Soda Bread:

Mom’s Irish Soda Bread
3.5 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
2 eggs - beaten
1 pt sour cream
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour an 8 in round cake pan.  Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder,  Fold in eggs and sour cream.  Add raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Smooth the surface and cut a “x” in the top of the dough.  Bake for 1 hour or until the roof of bread seems hollow when tapped.

Sites I frequent…sites that inspire…sites that make me happy:

 www.etsy.com (anything you ever wanted - homemade)

http://jordanferney.blogspot.com/ (oh happy day!)

http://www.ljcfyi.com/ (LJC FYI)

http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/ (this site saves me lots of $$ - always posting where diapers and formula are on sale, sales on stride rite shoes)

http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/ (Alie Edwards)

http://www.willettedesigns.typepad.com/ (Willette Photography)

http://morganmoore.typepad.com./ (love her etsy store - I’ve purchased quite a bit from her!)

Libby had her 1 year check-up yesterday and she’s doing outstanding! She continues to be our 90% girl. She weighs 23 pounds (I swear she weighs more - it feels like 33 when I’m holding her!). 23 lbs puts her in the 75%. Libby is 31.5 inches long and in the 95%.

Libby had 3 shots yesterday and took them really well. She did great the rest of the day yesterday, but had a rough night. She’s got a stuffey nose and couldn’t breathe very well. I’m not sure if she’s sick or if this is a side effect from the shots….we’ll see.

Many thanks to Nana for coming with us and telling our Dr that Libby is a genious and providing 100+ examples of why!

It’s hard to believe I am the Mom of a one year old…I’m sure in 15 years I’ll still be saying that!  We had a jam-packed weekend filled with 2 parties, visiting with friends and family and lots of ladybugs.  Mike’s posted an album of pictures.  Libby didn’t like cupcakes or cake very much, but she did enjoy her ladybug cookie.

Libby’s first birthday is Sunday, but my Mom reminded me when I was talking to her tonight that Mike and I headed to the hospital on Thursday night. It’s hard to believe this picture was taken one year ago! What an incredible year it’s been.

When I was in San Diego, my sister in law made a bunch of recipes that I used to make but somehow forgot about (Sarah Moulton’s 10 min lasagna, homemade pizza). So the other day I asked Mike “what recipe haven’t I made for a long time?” and the first thing that came out of his mouth was “meatloaf”. Mike LOVES meatloaf, I however, do not like it. My Mom is really good about making it for Mike when she comes to visit, but I can honestly say I’ve never made it…until last night.

I logged onto KraftFoods.com and found this really easy recipe for mini meatloaves (the Barefoot Contessa makes something similar, too). I loved these! They were so quick and easy to make and really delicious. I made the Italian version; I added the pasta sauce in with the meat and then added a little on the top. It probably took 5 minutes to mix the ingredients - great for a weeknight with a baby running around! I made roasted potatoes and steamed some broccoli to go with it - so quick and easy. The best part, Libby loved it - she ate 1.5 mini meatloaves, potatoes and loads of broccoli!

If you don’t get the Kraft Food and Family magazine, I would highly recommend it - it’s free and always full of great recipes. You can sign up for it here.

Also, the recipe link above for Sarah Moutlon’s 10 minute lasagna is a vegetarian version. If you want to add meat a quick and easy way to do it is to brown ground beef and mix it in with your sauce (ie. make a meat sauce). You can also buy meat pasta to use. Bon appetite!

Libby finally has enough hair to wear a bow!

How do you store your toys?  Despite having three baskets filled with toys under our sofa table, our family room is still over-run with toys.  Libby spends most of her day playing in the family room, so it makes sense to have them here.  I am looking for a cute way to store them (Mike currently lines up everything that doesn’t fit in the baskets in front of the fire place and sofa table - needless to say I’m sick of look at them).

I’ve come across a few options I like:  tote 1 (this is huge and will probably fit the bill, but the colors don’t thrill me) and tote 2 (smaller, but colors to match the family room).  A toy box really isn’t an option for us; we don’t have room for it in our family room.  Plus, we have my toy box from childhood in the office (which is right off the family room) and it’s filled with toys Libby isn’t quite old enough to play with.  I like these totes because they’ll fit in a small area, hold quite a bit and they’re mobile (i.e. if we have adults over we can move them into the office or up to Libby’s room).

I’m hoping Target might have something along the same lines.  If anyone else has cute and creative ways to store toys, let me know!