Bella's 1 year pictures

Around each of my children's 1st birthday, I have always had "1 year shots" taken. For Bella, she had just had some beautiful pictures made at 9 months and with our very busy summer, I decided to take some of my own outside our home. She is at a phase right now where it is very hard to get her to sit still for pictures, but I was still able to catch a few cute ones before she grew to bored/hot/hounded by knats. The white dress in the photos was originally Hailey's and each one of the girls have worn it in their one year pictures.

This last picture is my absolute favorite. It shows so much of her sweet little personality. We have so enjoyed Bella's first year of life and are having so much fun watching her grow into a toddler.

~Picture catch up~

While going through the 12 month pictures I took of Bella, I found these random few taken recently of the girls. There is no running theme, but I just couldn't let these go without being saved to our blog to look back on:) Tomorrow's post is a collection of pictures I took of Bella outside to serve as her "1 year pics". Far from professional, but they will do! Check back tomorrow for those:)

~Sisterly Love~

This is one sweet pile of sugar:)...

Just another bookworm! All the girls in this house love to read. Bella is definitely "just one of the girls" in that respect. Her current favorite is a glittery book about fairys. She even says "fairy" when she points at the fairy pictures :)

Big sister, littlest sister

And just in case you are thinking we are all smiles around here, this is a little behind the scenes picture to relieve you of that idea!LOL:)
Both of their faces are priceless.

Mary~Kathryn

Check out this sneaky Bella making her way up the steps as fast as she can!

This last picture just tickles me. Mary Kathryn made this pyramid with her babies. She sees plenty of this every week so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me!

In other news, Hailey is starting 4th grade tomorrow and Mary Kathryn is starting the 1st grade. They both love school and have missed both the schoolwork and friends. We are all excited for their first day! Update on that to follow soon:)

Melba's Southern Fried Chicken and Eggnog Waffles Recipe

Melba's Southern Fried Chicken and Eggnog Waffles

I absolutely have to try this recipe soon. It doesn't look healthy at all, but it does look ridiculously delicious. And just in case I'm not the only one who is dying to try this, I have included the recipe below. Enjoy! And please let me know if you try it. I would love to know how it tastes, though I will be trying it soon!

serves 4


For the chicken:

1 (3-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon brown mustard

2 cups buttermilk

Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons Sazonador seasoning

For the eggnog waffles:

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground nutmeg

2 cups eggnog

2 large eggs, separated

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Cooking spray, for the waffle iron

Strawberry Butter (recipe follows), for serving

Maple syrup, for serving

Strawberry Butter:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened

4 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 3/4 cup)

A few drops of grenadine syrup

Directions

1

To cook the chicken, put the chicken pieces in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt, pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, and garlic powder. Add the mustard and use your hands to work everything into the chicken. Pour in the butter­milk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.



2

Heat 3 inches of oil to 325ºF in a deep cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Combine the flour and Sazonador seasoning in a brown paper bag. Add a few pieces of chicken at a time and shake it like you mean it! Working in batches, fry the chicken until it is beauti-fully brown and crispy on one side, about 15 minutes. Turn and cook until a meat thermometer inserted into the meat registers 160ºF, about 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels.



3

To make the waffles, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Whisk the eggnog, egg yolks, and butter in another bowl. Stir the wet ingredi­ents into the dry until combined; you don’t want the batter to be lumpy or too smooth— just right.



4

Whisk the egg whites until almost stiff; fold them into the batter.



5

Heat a waffle iron. Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour some of the batter into the middle of the iron, following the manu­facturer’s instructions. Close and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter.



6

Top the waffles with fried chicken, Straw­berry Butter, and maple syrup.



7

For the Strawberry Butter, put the butter in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, and blend until smooth. Add the berries and grenadine and pulse until combined, but with small pieces of berry still visible.

I'm probably getting calories just from reading this recipe but from the looks of it, it will be well worth it!!

Bella 12 month update: Part II...

So, after our 12 month checkup we came away with the following information.... Bella now weighs 19lbs 10.5 ounces and is 31 inches long!! Her pediatrician recommended that we continue her on the lactose free milk since it seems to be working for the time being. We are now avoiding other dairy products because even yogurt causes rash and severe diarrhea. I am praying that she does not have a dairy allergy because that will be so limiting to her diet. She is still not completely weaned yet since the milk issue held that up a bit. But she is drinking the lactose free milk throughout the day, so we are headed in the right direction! Other than that, Bella had a great checkup and is doing wonderfully!:)

I am such a softie for sweet videos like the one below. I saw this on another blog and thought it was just the sweetest:)