Anna's Weekly Update- 17 Weeks- 5.22.16

 

 

 

 

I attempted taking her picture sitting up, she wasn't so sure about it :)

Weight: 16.8 pounds

 

Anna's had a fairly good week. She wasn't eating well one day, just refusing ever bottle. So finally I put some oil behind her ears that helps with ear infections and she instantly downed 6 1/2 ounces so I'm thinking she either had an ear infection or at least some pressure behind her ears. Since then she's been eating fine (and I've periodically been putting oil behind her ear to keep it fine :)). One big accomplishment Anna had this week was this:

David was quite the encourager for her :). So she can now roll stomach to back. She's not a fan of being on her stomach which probably gave her the incentive to try rolling over.

 

Micah loves coming to the grocery store with me so he can push his own little cart :) Such a big helper!

The twins had a first this week, they went to the dentist!! They were very impressed with this dentist, at least with the waiting room :)

Jonathan all ready for his cleaning

He did a great job!

David getting ready

He gave the dental hygienist a little bit of a harder time, but also did pretty good for his first time. Both boys had good check ups, the dentist was very happy with the state of their teeth. He was also just amazed at how similar their mouths and bites were. :) He must not see many identical twins

As a reward (since we so do not need more toys in this household) they got to play some arcade games at the mall.

Anna taking her evening snooze in her car seat. I was trying to decide if I should just let her keep sleeping or wake her up so she would go to bed on time at night. I made the wrong choice not waking her up, she was awake until 10:30!! Good thing she's super cute :)

This is how Anna always starts out on her play mat...

This is usually how she ends up :)

Found the boys over in the neighbor's backyard :) Just before this they asked me to take off their helmets. My answer "no, I think it's a better idea to just leave them on" :) I did eventually take them off for them, but I did feel better with them both jumping when they had them on :)

 

Ashley from church came with a tractor and rotter tilled our garden for us (thanks so much Ashley!). Then she graciously gave each of the boys a ride on the tractor around the parking lot. They had a blast. Their favorite part, honking the horn :). Here is David with her 

Anna just had to sit and watch

Micah

Jonathan

Thanks so much Ashley!!

Our happy girl!

She just never gets left alone :)

David doing this running from a lion game on the wii. Notice the tongue...

Jonathan does the exact same thing with his tongue when being chased by a lion! :)

And Micah does not

 

Came home the other day to find these 3 cute deer in the field behind our house, so fun!

I heard from the kitchen "Mommy, I'm stuck!!" I walk in to find him in the exersaucer. Of course before I help him out I take a picture :) Silly David!

The other night Steve was at senior presentations at the school, the twins were in bed and Micah wanted to play wii sports and Anna wasn't happy on the floor, so this is what we did. :) Of course Anna doesn't like to be still ever so even sitting in the carrier she was kicking like crazy (in fun, she wasn't upset, she just always has to be moving) which makes it very interesting when trying to play wii golf :)

It was a dreary day outside so we played some Play Doh inside

Sitting in the high chair like a big girl (and doing something she now does all the time, chews on her fingers)

A rare time where she fell asleep on me and let me just hold her. Love these times!!

Fun Food Friday- Jo Joe Potatoes

Wow, it has been a long time since I did a food blog. Life has been, well, a bit crazy and busy. :) Honestly, I probably haven't done a ton of cooking since my last food blog. :) And I'm not promising that they will happen all that often, life is still crazy and busy, but I just really felt the need to do something that made me feel like me again. I knew that moving would be an adjustment for all of us, particularly our kids. They have adjusted great! But now it's hitting me that I'm still in the adjustment period. And it's not just the moving adjustment, but also becoming a mom of 4 kids adjustment. I remember thinking "O, what's one more kid when you already have 3?" Ha!! It's one more kid! It's one more mouth to feed, one more person to take care, bath, entertain, get to sleep. It's one more person's laundry and she may be small, but she goes through clothes!! And we just love our Anna to pieces and wouldn't trade her for the world, but it's different having 4 kids (5 and under, none in school yet :)). And so I'm in this strange time of adjustment, of figuring out who Montana Julie is (I told Steve, it's like I'm trying to figure out who I am, to which he responded, "well, who were you before?" :) you got to love how men think, so practical :)). And so while I try to figure out life here in Montana, which I have to say I do really like, I love the church and the people are so nice and inviting and it's nice having space and peace (when my kids are in bed :)), I just needed to do something that made me feel like me, so I did a food blog. :)
And to commemorate my first food blog in Montana, I made...potatoes!!! A large number of people in our church are potato farmers, so I thought it was fitting :). A couple of weeks ago a couple from church took us to this amazing steakhouse in town and with each meal came your choice of potato. One of the choices of potato were "Jo Joes." I was intrigued, what in the world is a Jo Joe? So I asked. It's a baked potato sliced, breaded and fried. Sounded good to me. So I ordered them and oh my goodness were they delicious! So now I'm trying once again to eat on the healthier side and exercise because another thing having a child does is give you a body that no longer fits into your old clothes :). But the other night I was going to make potatoes for dinner and those Jo Joes came to mind and I started thinking "Okay, is there a somewhat healthier way to make them?" I don't know that I'd go so far as to say these are healthy, but they're not horrible for you :). So of course they're not as fantastic as the ones I had at the steakhouse, but I'll admit, they were pretty good. I used whole wheat flour to bread them and fried them in coconut oil. So if you really want to go crazy, bread them in white flour or better yet, bread crumbs, and fry them in vegetable or canola oil. But I'll give you the "healthier" way to make them and let you decide how you want to try them. :)
So without further ado, here are Jo Joe Potatoes:

 

Ingredients: Baked potatoes, wheat flour, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, regular salt, pepper, garlic power, coconut oil (I also used some cooking spray)

 

To a bowl add some flour...

Lawry's Seasoned Salt...

Garlic powder...

Salt...

and Pepper

Mix together

Slice up the baked potatoes (I discarded the ends)

I sprayed them with some cooking spray to help coat (if you weren't concerned about being healthy I would definitely use butter at this point instead of cooking spray :))

Coat both sides of the potato

Fry in a pan with coconut oil. Now coconut oil is not suppose to get super hot, you fry at 350 degrees, so just be careful not so let it get too hot (on another note, don't pour it down your drain as it becomes solid at 75 degrees :))

Fry for about 30 seconds on each side

Drain on a paper towel

And there you have it, yummy Jo Joes!

I dipped mine in some plain Greek yogurt. Other choices are sour cream, ranch dressing or ketchup

So if you're looking for a way to spruce up those baked potatoes, give Jo Joes a try :)

Jo Joe Potatoes
4 Baked potatoes
1/2 cup Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
Cooking spray
Coconut Oil

Slice the potatoes in 1/3 inch thick slices. In a bowl combine flour, seasoned salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper. spray both sides of sliced potatoes with cooking spray. Coat potatoes with flour mixture. Fry in coconut oil for 30 seconds per side.