Scarlett had a Birthday!!

I have a few friends who aren't on Facebook...so here are the pictures of Scarlett's Very First Birthday! And a couple from Halloween!

Reflection Time!

Hello from Reno!

Well, like I said, it's "Reflection Time"! This time last year I was still pregnant with my second baby! Now that baby is nearly a year old! I can't believe how fast time has flown! Boo is getting older, bigger, and SMARTER! He knows the alphabet VERY well, and spells EVERYTHING! He also counts very well! He reads a small handful of words as well! I just can't get over how smart he is! He's also quite a challenge from time to time, mostly with listening, he pushes boundaries that have been in place since he was a tiny baby! I continue to hope that he gets easier! The big hope is that as his language skills continue to grow and evolve, so will his abilities to reason.

We have lived in Reno for a little more than a year and we love it more and more every day! We are in the midst of fall, in fact, thanks to some fairly strong wind a couple of days ago, the trees that are closest to us have lost most of their leaves! Soon we'll have snow! We have discovered that we are small town kind of people...at least now we are! We lived in Salem, OR for a year and at the time it was too small a town. Then we lived in Las Vegas for seven very. long. years. And that was too big, we're like the Goldie Locks of residence! Reno is just right!

Some things have changed in recent months, I am experiencing my teen years all over again! I got braces back in August to correct my mid-line so that I don't have a tooth in the middle of my mouth! With any luck, I will be out of the braces by next Christmas! So, because I'm in braces and can't eat some of my favorite foods (mostly candy, specifically, sticky, gooey candy) I took it upon myself to join a gym and start getting in shape for some road races that I want to run next year! So, now I'm training for the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half-Marathon. Reno also has a Marathon and Half-Marathon, so I might run that one, and there is also another race in the Reno Tahoe area called "The Odyssey" that is 178 miles that is run as a team relay, hopefully, I can find a team that will have me, and I can run that one as well!

As far as training and running goes, it's going well, I am running at just over a 10 minute mile, in fact just yesterday (11/7/11) I ran three miles in 30:36! I have never run that fast in my life! Seattle ought to be awesome! I'm also looking forward to running with my dad at Christmas and actually keeping up with him!

I think that's all for now! I hope everything is going well for everyone! TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

--MS:)--

Yummy yummy yummy I've got love in my tummy!

Here are the "recipes" that I have been posting about on Facebook! They were pretty much improvised, I'm more of an exact measurement kind of person...I don't much care for recipes that go by the "I don't know, until it looks right" type cooking.

Bean Dip

1- 8oz brick of cream cheese, softened
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole sweet kernel corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 small can diced jalapeno peppers
1 1/2 tsp. dark chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
cayenne pepper to taste- but I think I used about a teaspoon and a half...

Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir them all together, serve with tortilla chips...I served the dip warm, it was a little strange cold...


Fajita Marinade

4 Anaheim peppers, seeded, and cut into smaller pieces
1/2 an onion
3 Tablespoons of Minced Garlic
1 3/4 tsp. salt
some lime juice

Use either chicken or beef cut up into strips...Place the ingredients for the marinade in a blender or food processor and blend well (I used a blender and set it to puree) Place the cut up meat in a gallon size resealable bag and pour the marinade over the meat. Refrigerate for 24 hours, I did it for two days...

Then cook the meat anyway you want...I put mine in the oven at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. Top with any desired toppings (guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce, whatever you like.) And ENJOY!

Happy New Year!

Hello from Reno!

I hope everyone had a lovely Holiday season! Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or Festivus...And I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year! I can tell you that I had a pretty good Christmas and New Year's. Mostly because our beautiful baby girl made her debut! So far Boo is a wonderful big brother, he pretty much ignores her until she starts fussing and then he wonders what is making that noise and then once in a while he tries to comfort her...in his slightly overly aggressive two and a half year old way...it's cute but also a little frightening at the same time!

So as I mentioned before, our beautiful baby girl finally made her much anticipated debut! We ended up doing a repeat c-section, since I wasn't able to convince my body to go into labor on its own! This time the c-section and the recovery went much better than the first time around, I think it also has to do with the fact that I knew what to expect this time. The only thing was that I could still feel and move my arms once the spinal took effect, and that freaked me out since I couldn't feel or move them when I had Boo...My doctor did a very good job, it was quick and easy and he even held up our little girl so that (in theory) I could see her over the drape. However, all I ended up being able to see was her hand. One other difference that I seemed to notice was that Jason wasn't allowed to come in until they had made the initial incision, for some reason I remember him being there the entire time, like just after the drape was put up with Boo. After a little tugging and pulling and a minor freak out on my part, our beautiful Scarlett Yvaine Secrest was born into the world at 8:05am on Wednesday December 8th! We decided on the name Scarlett because I really liked Gone with the Wind, and that Scarlett was very dramatic and our Scarlett came into the world in a very dramatic fashion, screaming her head off! She was a very healthy 7 pounds and 4 ounces and 19 inches long. One other thing that was different about this delivery was that from the operating room I was taken to recovery and Scarlett was taken to the nursery not to our room, and it was a couple of hours before she was brought to me, but on the plus side, the nurses and doctors in the nursery did NOT give her formula, with Boo, the nursery staff gave him formula because "his blood sugar was low" and looking back on it, I think they were just trying to get him to calm down...

Also, this time instead of the postpartum nurse coming in and saying "it's time for your percoset", they came in and asked what my pain level was on a scale of one to ten, then asked if I wanted one or two percoset, so as a result, I was much more lucid and I remember much more of my daughter's first three days of life. Another thing was that I got scolded a little for letting her nurse for 40 minutes on one side, in my defense, I had just had some percoset, and I kept falling asleep!

My mom was able to come out the day that Scarlett was born, and help with taking care of Boo and she got to meet her very first granddaughter when she was just brand new! Then, just 8 days later, in an effort to have people around to help me, I flew back to Michigan with my mom to finish up my recovery and enjoy the holidays with my family and my husband's family!

We also had Miss Scarlett blessed/dedicated while we were in Michigan! I would post pictures of that day, but we weren't able to assemble everyone in one shot to do the pictures, so in a few weeks, Jason, Boo, Scarlett and I are going to have pictures done and I will post those.

So far, this being a mom of two thing is going well! Boo really does have ways of getting attention, he climbs up in my lap when he wants attention from his mommy! Miss Scarlett is much more vocal than Boo was at the same age, she definitely lets her mommy know when she's ticked off! Getting places does take a little longer, and a little more planning, but it can be done!!

Again I hope everyone had a wonderful end to 2010 and a terrific beginning to 2011! Enjoy every minute! I think that's all for now!

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

--MS:)--