Sunday Funday!

What a fun-filled weekend!!! Friday night we started the weekend off by having my sister, Stephanie and her husband, Michael, over for dinner. We grilled teriyaki chicken with zucchini and rice and boy oh boy, was it delicious!!!! I also made my favorite drink to serve up for company, which is Sangria. It was a great night with siblings and spouses. It was so nice to have some quality time with each other.

Saturday was a fun day too. We had planned to take a picnic lunch to the park, but after I had made and packed our picnic lunch, it started raining. =( We decided to take Hartley to Catch Air instead, which is a play place for kids. She loves it!!! It's so cute to see her explore and be so fascinated by everything. We ended the night with one of my favorite crock pot recipes: Chicken Soft Tacos. It's delicious! All it requires is chicken breasts, 1 packet of taco seasoning (I ran out, so I made my own), and 1 cup of chicken broth. You cook all of this on low for 7-8 hours or until it falls apart. This makes the best chicken for soft tacos! YUM!!!

Today I was so excited when I was browsing online when I came across the Zoo Atlanta page. I was looking at their ticket prices because I have been waiting for Hartley to be old enough and of walking age to really enjoy family outings. I wasn't that surprised by how expensive the tickets were, luckily Hartley would be free, but, I ended up finding quite the surprise at the bottom of the page. I came across a section that said if you are a member of the public library, you can check out the Zoo Atlanta Family Pass DVD and when returning it, receive a receipt that gets your ENTIRE family (of 4) into the zoo for FREE! Yes, FREE!!! I almost fell out of my chair, I was so excited! Before seeing that, I thought $5 off being an early bird was exciting...but wow, a FREE family pass. Now- the tricky part of this exciting deal is actually tracking down the DVD. Since, of course, everyone loves FREE, and those who are public library members know about this, the DVD is ALWAYS checked out and literally never available. Me, being the detailed and precisely planned person that I am, I looked at all the branches to see if it was available and luckily it said one of the two was "in transit." We made sure to get to the library only a few minutes after it opened today and luckily, we got there right as the library truck was unloading. I expected to have to come back a couple of days to try and get it if someone beat me to it, but WOOHOO!!! I got it! So....we are going to take Hartley to the zoo for the first time next weekend and i'm so excited-- not just for her, but me too! lol.
 
Before heading to the library, we also stopped for a quick lunch and then went by the store. We got Hartley a little blow up pool and balls to make her a ball pit, and she absolutely loves it!

The next few weeks are going to be quite busy for us, which is not the norm. We have a birthday celebration and zoo trip next weekend, a beach trip the following weekend, and then a family cookout the last weekend. I love having so much to look forward to.

Until next time......hopefully not in 6 months ;)

Walking, Talking(trying to), Toddler

A lot has changed in the Citti Household lately. Now that Hartley is walking everywhere, every second of the day, I can say I'm one beat mom. It's kind of funny because I kept saying, "I just can't wait until she walks!!!!" --but boy that just made things much more tiring for this momma. Not to mention--Hartley has always been pretty good in restaurants, but that changed the second she started walking because now she doesn't want to sit. I'm learning that being a mom can make you feel pretty awkward and embarrassed sometimes....(or maybe that's just me) following your child around as they walk up to random strangers and stare at them for five minutes. Anyways, she is growing up so fast and I feel like my life has been on fast forward since she was born. It seems like yesterday when I had her and now she is walking, trying to say words, and already showing me a glimpse of the "terrible two's". She is so smart, too! She loves to read books and look at pictures. Everywhere we go, all day long- she wants to point to things and know what they are. She understands most everything I say and loves when I ask her to do things. Although it is tiring and frustrating at times, (this toddler phase), I still can't believe that she is my little girl. She's my whole world and when she smiles and laughs, my heart just leaps with joy. I had no idea I would love her as much as I do and love her more every day. It's kind of crazy, having a baby....you get to relive childhood in a completely different and whole new way. It's incredible!

On another note, I've been really into cooking lately. I have always loved cooking, but now that I'm staying at home, I've been having so much fun trying recipes and using my crock pot. I'm not sure why I love the crock pot so much--maybe it's just because you can dump everything in one big pot and turn a knob, i'm not sure. haha!  I am surprisingly proud of myself though, for trying recipes and being brave enough to make them my own and spice them up a bit. Here is a list of my favorite recipes so far:

1) Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Five Stars*****

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-pot-roast/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=crockpot%20pot%20roast&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

This is by far the best pot roast I have had. I have tried several in the past month or two and decided that this recipe was the best. The only thing that I thought was missing was the delicious flavor that I had loved from Paula Dean's Pot Roast recipe....so, I added to this recipe: a tablespoon of Worcestershire, 1 cup of red wine, a dash or two of Garlic salt, and lots of salt and pepper. It is DELISH!!!

2) Slow Cooker Chicken with Mushroom Wine Sauce


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-with-mushroom-wine-sauce/

This Recipe was absolutely delicious too! The only thing I changed was the amount of wine in the sauce. I'm pretty sure I added a whole cup instead of just a quarter. YUM YUM!!!

3) Easy French Onion Soup


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/french-onion-soup-recipe2/index.html

This was by far the most delicious French Onion Soup I have ever had. Not only was it super tasty, it was very easy to make! The only thing I added to the recipe was using my own choice of cheese as well as sandwich rolls to open and pour the soup in and over the top. It's to die for!


Happy Thursday!

<3 SaRaH

In the blink of an eye.....my baby turned one!

It still shocks me when I realize that I now have a one year old. I know that this blog entry is belated, but oh the life of being a stay at home mom! whew! I wanted to write this weeks ago. Anywho, I wanted to do a year in pictures, showing how much Hartley has changed and grown into this beautiful little toddling girl. She seriously has my whole heart and is my whole world. I didn't think it was possible to love her so much or what the kind of love you feel for your own child would feel like. Let me just say- it's incredible, amazing, unbelievable.....I don't think there is anything better than being a mom. So here's to Hartley's first year!!!

                                        

Sam Comes to Visit and Hartley's First Easter

Well hello to my wonderful readers! A lot has been going on lately, and as you can see, I've gotten no better at keeping my blog updated. Eeek. Sorry about that! We have had many different special occasions and events that have kept me busy- although, that should give me a lot to tell you, of course. =) Let's see....so, in March, we celebrated my mom's birthday and shortly after that, it was my dad's 60th birthday. Not only has April been by far the busiest month, it has been the most exciting and I'm still looking forward to many wonderful things!

My best friend, Sam, flew in from California to visit and was able to partake in the festivities of my dad's 60th birthday celebration and Easter. It was so amazing to have her spend time with Hartley and just enjoy that much needed quality BFF time. It's really, really hard having her live more than two thousand miles away. She seriously is the most amazing girl I know and I admire her immeasurably. It meant so much to have her be a part of these special occasions that I celebrate with my family, even more. Each year we do an Easter Egg Hunt for the nieces and nephews, which is always a blast. This year's-  by far was the most special to me because it was Hartley's first. It was so incredible to help her go out with a basket and search for eggs, especially with her "almost" walking. I still can't get over the feeling I had--helping my own little girl carry her first Easter basket. It was also very special because we were able to get some wonderful pictures of us as a family.

Hartley's first birthday is in nine days and I just can't believe that it's already been a whole year. Is that really how fast they grow up? I still feel like it was just yesterday that I felt her kicking me in the ribs from inside my belly. As for the newborn stage, I feel like it was gone in the blink of an eye. And now- my BABY is almost WALKING! It just seems crazy. I'm really excited though because Joey's dad and brother Ryan are flying from California to come visit us, as well as Joey's best friend, Joel. They'll be here to celebrate both Hartley and Joey's birthdays with us. How cool is that!?

Well....H just woke up from her nap! Gotta run.

Living My Dream...

Wow. It's been soooo long since I've last written. So much has gone on in the past seven plus months, I don't even know where to begin. Since the last seven months of my life have revolved around me being a working mom with a broken heart....Fast forward to today...I've been meaning to write a new entry now that I'm staying at home with Hartley. I'm a Stay at Home Mom now!!!AHHH!!!! =) :::Biggest smile ever:::: Most of you already knew that, but I still just can't get over it. I haven't gotten use to it, even after a whole month. God has truly answered my number one prayer, and that was being able to live the dream I've had since I was a little girl.

The thought of having to go back to work after having my first child never crossed my mind. I also never realized even when it happened, just how hard it would be. I don't know what I would have done without the amazing help from my wonderful mom and her looking after Hartley for me. I think I would have just been so miserable if I had had to put Hartley in day care. I'm so grateful and I feel like I am counting my blessings every day now. I seem to usually only focus on the bad things, as I'm a very pessimistic person who worries 24/7. I really just feel like God had my back...he knew that it wasn't what I wanted, to be working instead of staying at home with my baby, so he made sure that the next best person to mommy was my mommy-- looking after her. Anyways, I just feel like I, now more than ever, know how good I had/have it. After only 7 months of going back to work, God gave me my dream.

It has been complete heaven staying at home. No more work, no more worries about work, just pure 100% mommy all day long and focusing on my little Hart. I love being able to decide what my day is going to look like. I love that I can choose when I want to feed her, where, how, and what. It's the best feeling in the world! Going to the park, playing outside, going on walks, playing with toys and singing songs, I just love every minute of it. I love that I'm with my Hart and not having to be away from her anymore. I just can't believe that it's flown by so fast- the whole first year of her life. She's almost one!!!

Now that I'm at home, I feel like I have no concept of time....I'm so happy and doing what I've always wanted to do that the time just flies by in the blink of an eye! It's weird!!! It's kind of scary though too. Do they really grow up this fast? One minute I have a precious bundle that needs to bed fed through the night and now I have a pretodder, tantrum throwing, almost walking, eight teeth baby girl!? Wow. My life has changed drastically in the past couple years and I just can't wait to see what's in store for the future. I have an amazing little family and we are so blessed. Don't get me wrong, I still have worries and frustrations, and it's definitely not easy---this dream of mine, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Ever.

To sum things up, life is good...great I should say. I'm so thankful that I have a hardworking husband who is so happy I can finally live my dream. He's definitely an answer to a lifelong prayer and I don't know what I'd do without him. In the meantime, when I do have a little more time on my hands if I can get H to get a good nap in, I've really been getting back into my love of cooking/baking...and painting (the house haha). I definitely want to get back into my artistic interests and love of sketching/painting things as well....but usually I'm so beat after a few hours with H, all I want to do is rest. Ohhhh the life of a mom. =) Thank you, Jesus!

Until next time....