Oliver's First Easter

I'm a little behind in posting, but we had a very fun Easter this year and I need to document it! Even though Oliver will have no recollection of this Easter, Tommy and I had a lot of fun making it a memorable, special day for him. I decided to make Oliver an Easter basket this year-I always loved the special basket that my mom had made for me and I wanted him to have something that I worked hard on for him. Of course, I don't quite have the skills my mom did, so I searched on pinterest for a basket idea that didn't require a sewing machine...what I came up with was one made out of construction paper. Sounds silly, but it actually turned out pretty cute (though I don't know how long it'll last). Tommy and I picked out Hop for Oliver and a couple of fun toys that he will hopefully start being interested in sometime in the next few months...I also stole one of Tommy's Reese's eggs to put in his basket, cuz even though he can't eat candy, I thought he might like one piece in there haha. When we woke up that morning, I locked Oliver and Tommy in our bedroom so I could assemble their baskets and hide them in the house. Tommy helped Oliver search (I was actually surprised out how long it took him to find them...I must be a good hider...). And Tommy surprised me by setting up some Easter presents for me on the bed while he was locked away.

We took pictures of smiling Oliver, then played with his toys (i.e. I put them in his hands and he waved his arms around until the toys fell out), watched Hop (which made me miss/talk about Jenna a lot since I use to watch it with her all the time), and then we went to church! Our sacrament meeting was really cool that day; they had a narrator sharing testimonies from different apostles and prophets on the atonement and then, between each testimony, the choir would sing a song. It was very cool! It reminded me of the Christmas programs we normally have each year and it was very moving to see all the work that went into creating an Easter program that was just as special.
Then we picked up Monica from the airport because she was on her way back up to school after spending a week in Arizona. She got to play with Oliver for a little while, which was very fun for him; he always loves his auntie time. We had Tommy's aunt and uncle and their family come over for Sunday dinner so they could see our new place, so we made ham, mashed potatoes, and salad and Cheri brought yummy rolls and strawberry shortcake. We had a lot of fun eating and chatting and, of course, playing with Oliver. Man, I wish I had taken more pictures (as always), but here is a video of Oliver laughing to make up for it.

The New Digs

As promised, here are some pictures of our new place!!

Here is the front room, as seen from the front door...

Here's our kitchen (view from the dining room table)

And here's our dining area...woohoo for having room enough for a kitchen table!!

Here's the hallway next to the kitchen which leads to....

 The office on the right hand side..here's a view from the door

and a view from the window

Followed by the nursery (during nap time, so only one shot from the door and then a very quiet exit)

And on the left side of the hall, a guest bathroom (aka my bathroom)

 Followed by our bedroom...

 and the master bath (aka Tommy's bathroom)

And check it out, closet doors!! woohoo!!

From here we go down the stairs (view from the family room)

 Here's our laundry room/family room in the basement. It's pretty empty right now, but eventually we want to get a futon (for guests to sleep on) and possibly a projector...we will see.

And here's our scanty food storage under the stairs. Tommy wanted this to be Oliver's bedroom (to make it very Harry Potter-esque), but we decided to be good parents haha

Well, there you have it; that's our tour! Feel free to come again (in real life next time!)

Lots of Trips!!

We have been traveling fiends these days...First we had our trip to Jamaica for our monthly date around the world...We made jerk chicken wings and fried bananas for dinner and they were super yummy!

Jerk Chicken Wings

First you have to make your wings....

Chicken Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
Oil (for deep frying)1 cup all purpose flour2 teaspoons salt½ teaspoon ground black pepper½ teaspoon cayenne pepper¼ teaspoon garlic powder½ teaspoon paprika1 egg1 cup milk

Chicken Instructions:

Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture, and then roll in the flour mixture. Repeat so that each piece of chicken is double coated. Refrigerate the breaded chicken for 20 minutes.
Fry chicken in the hot oil in batches until the outside is nicely browned and the juices run clear (about 5 minutes per batch). Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all of the chicken is gone.
Mix fried chicken bits with your wing sauce.

Jerk Chicken Wing Sauce

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons green onion (minced)
1 cup water
¾ cup ketchup
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoons nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon thyme

Directions:

In a small saucepan sauté onion in butter over medium heat. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

A couple weeks later, we had our trip to Arizona (this one we actually got on a plane for...)

Here's Oliver getting prepped for his fun in the sun with some slightly-large sunglasses :)

 This trip was Oliver's first time on an airplane and he did SO well!! Maybe it was because everyone on the plane kept telling him how adorable he is, so he thought, yea...I won't get fussy today. Whatever the reason, he was an angel and slept most of the flight there and back.

Here he is sleeping in Daddy's arms on the way home

Grandma and Grandpa got Oliver a convertible car seat, so he felt like quite the big boy sitting in this seat (and he was looking a little too old for me...what happened to my newborn??)

Aunt Kati said he always made this face at her...on the way to church he just started at her like this until he fell asleep!

 The main reason for the trip (other than it having been way to long since we were last there) was for Oliver to meet his Great Grandma McLaughlin and his Great Aunt Patty. They gave him so much loving!! He was so spoiled; they would never let him go too long without being held and they gave him lots of toys and cute clothes (we had more luggage for Oliver than for me and Tommy combined!)

Great Grandma holding Oliver...do you see the Japanese resemblance??

 We went and saw Divergent and Veronica Mars (they were both great!), met a lot of friends in Mesa, and ate lots of yummy food (I've been craving The Good Egg for like a year and a half). Our baby was so exhausted that he started falling asleep when we set him on the bed to get his swaddle blanket ready-no binkie or nothing!

An exhausted bear after being set down for like one second

 But when he was awake, he was the happiest baby! He also had his first giggles with Daddy on March 25th; it was so cute and exciting.

Aunt Coey got this way cute shot of him smiling and I love it

 While we were there, we also got to meet James, a 9-month old baby of some of Tommy's parent' friends. As you can see, that 7 month difference is a pretty big one...

We had a super fun time and were pretty sad to leave, but we got to come home to our new place!! That's right, we've made the move upstairs and no longer live in a basement. We are really liking the space in our new apartment/house and as soon as decorating is done (which is taking forever since we have to work around naptime for hanging things up), I will put up pictures :) Stay tuned!

Oliver's Blessing Day

Oliver's blessing day was a very special day. We took our time in the morning getting ready; Grandpa McLaughlin gave Oliver a bath and we had fun video taping them playing together at the sink. We put Oliver down for a nap so I could take my time getting ready, then we made lots and lots of chili and woke up our baby to eat and get dressed. Right after we got him dressed, most of the family showed up to head over to the church. We snagged the front benches in the chapel. I was feeling super nervous and when I told Tommy that he was like, "I don't know why, you're not really doing anything..." haha but I was very anxious to hear Oliver's blessing. I kept asking Tommy if he knew how to start the blessing and he reassured me with, "I'm sure I'll figure it out when I get there."
During the meeting, the first counselor announced the blessing of a different baby and after that baby's blessing, he moved on to the next part of the meeting. Our three rows of guests were waving our hands to try to get his attention and when he saw us, he said "Oh man...this is what I did last time we had two baby blessings..." it was pretty funny. But our whole group got up and moved to the front. I felt very blessed to see a group of 12 loved ones and priesthood holders holding my baby boy. I felt the way I did when Oliver received his priesthood blessings in the NICU; we are so blessed to have such a wonderful support system for our family. The blessing was very sweet and I was very emotional the whole meeting...I mean, who wouldn't be looking at this sweet baby??