Newest Family Member

So I've been a bit of a slacker in updating the blog.  I guess I do have some excuse since I had a baby 2 weeks ago tomorrow.  It's amazing how time flies.  We named her Yanna, which means dark one in Quetchua.  It's rather ironic her name means 'dark one', she is our lightest one. Actually I think she's going to be light like I am.  Yanna was born on April 1st at 4:21 am, she weighted 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2" long.  She was my little "Speeding Gonzolas"  my entire labor was 4 1/2 hours from start to finish and after the midwife broke my water, she shot out of  in less than 5 minutes.  And shot out of me is exactly what she did. The older girls slept through the entire birth.  Which was wonderful!  Suri was the first to wake up around 6:30 or 6:45am and the midwives were just leaving.  It was wonderful surprise for the girls to wake up too.

This picture was taken right after Church on Easter Sunday.  I had no idea, a couple ours later I would be having a baby.

This picture was taken seconds after Yanna was born.  Notice the carpet, Yup, she was born on the floor.

The placenta.  Notice the Tree of Life!!  Isn't it beautiful!!

Our first picture taken with all the girls.

 

Yanna's day 1

 

Suri and Yanna

Yannas first smile.

38 Weeks Pregnant

I thought I'd post a picture of what I look like right before our 4th and final baby was born.  Hopefully, the baby will be born very very soon.

Tortellini and Tomato Soup with Rosemary

So today I decided that I wanted to make a quick and easy soup.  I haven't made it in a while, so I was worried the girls, especially Kiyari, wouldn't eat it. I'm not sure where I got the recipe, all I know is I cut it out of a magazine a couple of years ago.

Once again the recipe was a huge success.  I've modified the recipe only slightly.  I used 2 fresh tomatoes instead of a 14 1/2 oz can of diced tomatoes. I also let the soup cook a bit longer than the recipe called for since I was using fresh tomatoes.  I was also 2 cups short for the 6 cups needed for the chicken broth, so I replaced the 2 cups with water and then just adjusted the taste with salt and pepper.  And then I used Parmesan cheese instead of pesto.  In total the recipe took maybe 30 mins from start to finish.

I should also mention I made the soup a couple hours earlier, I just omited the noodles and then added them about 5 minutes before we were ready to eat.  Here is the recipe in its entirety.  Enjoy!!

Tortellini & Tomato Soup with Rosemary

Makes 4 to 6 servings (about 9 cups)  Prep: 10 minutes  Cook: 20 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2 oz) can of diced tomatoes, drained or 2 large tomatoes diced
6 cups of chicken broth
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
12 oz tortellini or 9 oz of ravioli, fresh
3 cups of chopped spinach
salt and pepper to taste
Toppings: prepared pesto or freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and saute' until softened.  Add tomato and cook 1 minute.  Stir in broth and rosemary, and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered 5 minutes.  Add Pasta, stirring to blend and simmer 5 to 6 minutes more.

2. Add spinach, salt and pepper. Simmer stirring often, 3 more minutes or until spinach and pasta is just tender.  Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with cheese or a spoonful of pesto.

Suri's hard life.

Suri's having a hard life today.  She informed me at breakfast that she can do whatever she wants.  I said REALLY!!  OK.  Now she's learning there are consequences to doing whatever she wants.  She's pretty stubborn, so I imagine this will last for sometime.  She currently can't eat till lunch, which is at 1:00 pm because she's refused to eat her breakfast sometime around 830ish. So needless to say she's begging me for a snack.  We went outside to play for awhile when she informed she was going to eat her snack anyways.  I said ok, just remember you'll go straight to bed and you won't eat till dinner.  Her standard answer that's fine. HAHAHA!!  I laugh because I know in a couple of hours she'll not be fine.
As I'm writting this she got her playdough taken away.  I think Suri's going to have one LOOOONG day today. HAPPY PARENTING!!!!

 

Happy Day after Christmas, I hope everyone had a wonderful Day!!

 

So I have been hard at work sewing for the girl's Christmas presents. And I thought I'd show off what I've been sewing.  Both girls got a Madam Alexander doll, which I found on ebay for an AMAZING price. Q'Orianka got an 18" Latina doll. And Suri a 19" doll with creamy skin and brown hair. Lucky for me the clothes I made fit both dolls.  Although the clothes are a bit tight for Suri's doll, they still work. 

 

Q'Orianka and I have been reading the American Girl Kirsten Books so I thought I'd make this nightgown and the Apron Dress.  Since Suri's doll came naked I ended up giving the Apron Dress to her.  Q'Orianka asked me to make her a dress just like it so I'll probably be working on that this next week.  I'm not by any means a great seamstress, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy both the nightgown and the dress were to make.  And what's even better I only had to buy the fabric for the apron. :-)

 

 

 

Here's a picture of the Apron Dress without the Apron, isn't it cute!!  And Q'Orianka nightgown.  I made a few modifications just to make it different.  And it made it even easier to make. 

 

 

 

 I made this top today along with the skirt below.  They were on cuff that came from a pair of Q'Orianka's pants that had worn out at the knees and zipper area.  And thanks to pinterest, I decided to turn them into a skirt and top.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  I made the skirt while talking to Amber on the phone.  Not bad for multi tasking.  The shirt took a little more work since I'm not used to "winging it" and I was trying to make the top fit with out cutting into the back.  The strap attaches in the back with velcro at a V and then connects to the shirt with a piece of velcro and I added elastic to the back to make it fit better.

 

 

For the skirt I added a waist band and then elastic inside to gather it.  Quick and easy.

 

 

Here's a close up of the embroidery design on both the skirt and the top. 

Christmas Day

 



Merry Christmas!! 

 

We had a wonderfully relaxing day!! We invited some friends over for Breakfast, since they don't have any family in the area.  So I went all out and made a real American Breakfast.  Pancakes, bacon, sausage, friend potatoes, peaches, O.J., and  hot chocolate. Luis added steak and our friends brought Punche, which is a Mexican drink similar to Wassel.  It was delicious!!  After we sat down to eat I realized I forgot the eggs.  But by then, nobody wanted any since we were getting really really full.  After breakfast we visited for a while, once we left we all took a nice long nap. Which was perfect,  because by the time we'd eaten, cleaned up and visited it was almost 2:00 P.M. 

 

For Dinner, Mama Nina made Seco con Frioles and rice.  It was the ending to a perfect day.  Seco takes a couple of hours to cook, but Prep wise, it was easy, which is what I wanted.  Here is a picture of what what we ate.  I didn't take the picture.  Nevertheless it was delicious!!  I'll post the recipe another day.

 

Here are a few pictures of the girls opening their presents.

 

Suri with her new floor puzzle.  Obviously you can tell she was pulling a Suri face.  Not wanting to smile, probably becaused I asked her too!  Silly girl!!

 

Kiyari and her new xylaphone.   Pulling a typical "cheese" face.

Suri and Q'Orianka with their new Lalaloopsy dolls.

 Kiyari  with her new book and Suri with her new nightgown for her doll.

 Suri gave Q'Orianka her first cross stitch kit.  I'm really excited to teach her to cross stitch.  I'm pretty sure, I was about her age when Aunt Sue bought me my first cross stitch kit.  Suri's nickname is Lady Bug, so she got a Ladybug Girl Book.  We love the the Ladybug Girl Books!!

 Q'Orianka and her new doll nightgown and I her dolls fur coat and hat.  I found it on Craigs List for a steal.  And her doll looks so cute in it.

 Kiyari is oooing  and ahhing over a new jumper she got!!  It was adorable. Suri got 2 new skirts. I could barely get her to keep her in her pants. 

Pasta Twists w/ Broccoli Sauce

After watching the news today and seeing the terrible tragedy in Connecticut.  I had no desire to cook, let alone to cook anything long and complicated.  So I found this recipe at www.momswhothink.com.  Lucky for me it was quick, easy and a huge success by everyone.  So I thought I'd share this great find.  I should also say, that I used rigatoni noodles instead of pasta twists  and it worked out perfectly.


Pasta Twists with Broccoli Sauce

 

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
2 medium stalks broccoli
1 large red bell pepper
¾ pound pasta twists (about 4½ cups)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
¾ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Finely chop the garlic and onion.
3. Separate the broccoli tops from the stems, cut the stems and tops into bite-size pieces. Coarsely chop the red bell pepper.
4. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until Al Dente, 10 to 12 minutes, or chording to package directions.
5. While pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, warm of 1 Tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.
6. Add the garlic onion mixture and stir-fry until browned, about 5 minutes.
7. Add the remaining 1 Tablespoon oil, the broccoli tops and stems, the bell pepper, oregano, salt, and black pepper.
8. Stir fry until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
9. Add the heavy cream and Parmesan and bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat.
10. Cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.
11. Drain the pasta and toss with the vegetables and sauce. Serve with warm Italian bread.