So, my friend Brooke, can't cook at all (anyone remember eggshell brownies ha)! Ok, maybe not at all, but not too well. So I have decided to help her out. I am going to put recipes and pictures of what I cook on here each Thursday (that I remember to). So, here is recipe #1: Meatloaf

This is the best meatloaf recipe EVER! Mmm. Its from my Aunt Elaine, this woman can make the side of a barn tastey! So, here is what you start out with:

1 pound of Hamburger (its best to use the leanest meat you can afford, 97/3 would be best)

1 cup of quick oats (you can also use 1 cup of bread crumbs if you'd prefer, my grandpa does. Don't know why though, I think its because he knows oatmeal is better for you ha!)

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon Worschestershire Sauce

1 egg

6 oz evaporated skim milk (it doesn't have to be skim, but its better for you. When I was at the store though all they had was whole evaporated milk.)

1/4 cup fresh onion OR 1 Tablespoon of dried onion flakes

In a bowl combine all of your ingredients. Now, before we go on to the next step, TAKE OFF ALL YOUR HAND JEWELRY!!! Very important unless you want to pick out hamburger meat from the tiny spaces in your rings! Also, before you go to the next step, make sure your little helper has plenty of munchies, because you aren't gonna want to stop and come back to this step.

Ok, are you ready now?? No more rings? Munchied up helper? Good. Now take your ringless fingers and mush everything in that bowl together. And squish and squash and let out a sound of disgust as your fingers combine all those ingredients together to form this:

(Please note there are NO egg sheels in here! That is how it is supposed to be, very important Brooke)!

Mmm tastey huh?

Now, take your blob o' meat and put it in an 8x8 pan (you won't need to grease it). Now smooth it all out with your yucky hands. I like to add some onion to the top of the meatloaf, I think it looks prettier, kinda like confetti. Now wash those gross fingers of yours. And then put it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

While its cooking you can play with your helper because most of those munchies are gone by now. But before your 45 minutes are up, you are gonna need to make the topping. I already had some made, we use it for BBQ sauce. But, you take a cup of ketchup (catsup?) and 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Mix until its all saucy looking. When the 45 minutes are up, take out the loaf and pour on the sauce and spread the love...er...sauce around. Put it back in the oven for 15 minutes.

Then, cut into this bad boy and enjoy. I added some red potatoes and some brocolli for sides. (Hello ya can't just have meat for dinner, ya gotta have some veggies too. Otherwise your grandma might get mad! Did she ever say: Brooke, eat your vegetables so you can grow up and be president? Did she? I bet she did! Happy cooking Brooke.

So what does a stay at home mom do all day while her baby naps? Aside from cleaning, I get creative!

Here are a few pictures of what I have been doing the past couple weeks (sorry the quality is kinda junky, I can't find my canon, so I had to use my sony handycam):

View from top:

My baby shower gift for my Sister in Law. Its a diaper cake. Underneath the tissue paper, its filled with diaper rings, that are filled with some baby essentials, like receiving blankets, toy keys, bibs, a couple onesies etc. Her shower is a week from Saturday!

Sweater:

Buttons up close:

Close up of flower on hat: Wrapping: Trav's cousin found out she is pregnant about a month ago. She is due...SEPTEMBER 11!!! Its a little girl, she is naming her Blakely. So, I decided to try out a new hobby for me, good ol' fashion crochet! I made a pair of baby booties, a hat, and a sweater! Since these turned out pretty good, I am going to try and create an inventory and start selling them on Etsy.

What is Etsy you ask? Its a website that allows people to sell handmade items. Etsy.com. Pretty much anything you can think of, this website has. Even stuff you can't think of. (Uterus pillow anyone? No I am not kidding)!

And tonight, I made some cake balls for Trav's coworkers for tomorrow. These are inspired by Bakerella. You take a cake mix, bake it like you would normally, let it cool, and crumble it up into tiny pieces into a bowl. Then you add a can of frosting and mix. After that you stick it in the fridge overnight. Then spoon some out, shape into balls, and dunk in almond bark. Add sprinkles if you want! Careful though, you gain like 20 lbs just looking at these things! (Hello, its cake and frosting covered in candy!) Definitely not for the person on a diet!

Wyatt had his 9 monthday appointment yesterday. He was 28 1/2 inches tall (57th percentile), his head was 18 inches around (50th percentile), but he was only 17 1/2 lbs, (5th percentile). He needs to gain some weight, so we are going to add protein to his diet now. The Dr was a bit concerned about his weight, but not too horribly much. He said that when you add solids this can sometimes happen, so just make sure he eats more.

The Dr tested Wyatt for anemia also. He was at a 10, and should be at 11. So Wyatt was Rx some iron drops he has to have 1/4 teaspoon a day until he turns 1, then they will check him again. Other than that, he is a happy healthy baby. I think introducing proteins to his diet will help him gain some of the weight he needs. He eats 2-3 servings of fruits and veggies a day. About 5 cubes of food for lunch and 5 for dinner. I am also going to add a breakfast to his schedule now too. I am thinking egg yolks or tofu with some fruits.

Wyatt, at 9 months, you can crawl like a pro. You can stand up on your own as long as you don't know you are standing! You love to walk around the furniture and think you are pretty big stuff when you do! I love the way your eyes light up when you see me or daddy come into the room. You say Dada all the time, and you are great at screaming Mama when you are angry. You are becoming an excellent climber, just like your Momma was. I was told this is called payback ha! You like to climb up the baby gates, and if you knew enough to throw your little legs over, I think you would be over those baby gates in a minute! You are a smart little boy and I think you are going to test your Daddy and me.

Now for more wedding pictures. Once again, I am participating in Kelly's Korner Show us Your Life Blog Carnival. This week its wedding pictures, save the reception.

I loved my wedding colors, they were Fuschia and Kiwi (BRIGHT pink and green)! They were so cheery.

Lighting our Unity Candle. I look so serious, I didn't was to drop wax on me or touch Trav's hand with the flame lol!Our Groomsmen and ringbearer. From Left to Right, Trav's dad Clint, my nephew Ethan, Trav's brother Adam, Travis, Travis' brother Josh, and my brother in law Jeff.Here is where we had our wedding/reception. The Chapel is on the far left, which is where the ceremoney was. And those big windows at the front of the Church, inside there is where our reception was, but we will get to that next week!
Here is a picture of our rings. I Love this picture!
My bridesmaids! L-R: My sister Regena, My best friend Corley, Travis, My maid of honor Brooke, my other sister Melissa.

This is my Great Grandma, Mrs. Alma Travis. She past away just over a year ago. I was so happy she was able to make it down from Nebraska for my wedding. I wished my Great Grandpa had been able too as well, but he was in a nursing home, he had advanced Alzheimers. He passed away 5 weeks after my Great Grandma. I miss them both dearly. They were such good people. 1915-2008, they had a great life and experienced so many things and got to see the rise of the 21st century! She is standing next to my Grandma (who is really more like my mom) Can you believe she was almost 70 in this picture!

My Guest Book and Pen. I searched 3 different Hobby Lobbies to find these. They matched my dress with the pearls and "diamonds" :)

The cutest flower girl and ring bearer EVER! The basket and pillow match the guest book and pen! My nephew insisted on having petals to throw too, so I stuck some under the ribbon on the pillow. I think they stole the show! They were almost 3 and 5 at the time.

I just love this picture!

My programs. I made each one of them...all 100! My fingers were soo tired of tying ribbon lol! I also decorated the basket. It too was from Hobby Lobby, it was light wood, i painted it white, and glued the ribbon on. Absolutely beautiful. If I ever have a daughter, this will be in her room!

My Grandpa giving me away! He was crying but he blamed it on the pink eye he had at the time. Too bad he had tears streaming down his face. He is such a silly man! I love him! You can also see how the church was decorated. The pews had pink and green tulle bows and white tulle along the ends of the pews, with candle holders on the tops.

Our flowers and closeups of the bridesmaid's dresses. The flowers were made by my mother in law's best friend Maggie. They turned out beautiful, even though it isn't exactly what I wanted. The dresses were bright pink with a darker green ribbon around the waist with a cute little bow on the front you can't really see here. They also had beautiful trains as well. That was kind of a theme for the dresses, they all had trains, including the flower girl!

I hoped you enjoyed, and come back next week for pictures of our reception, especially our awesome truck groom's cake!!

Today, Wyatt had his first playdate! Date is all capitalized in the title because it was him, and 3 girls, so it was kinda his first date lol. There was a 7 month old, Wyatt, who is 9 months today! (Happy Monthday little boy!), a 15 month old, and a 10 month old . They all had so much fun! We met up at the Wiggly Play Center. http://www.wigglyplaycenter.com/

Ever heard of the Wiggles? They are this Quartet from Australia that do all sorts of fun baby songs etc on TV and do performances and what not. Well, they also have a few Play Centers. Its is for little babies on up to probably 7 or 8 years old. This oversized McDonald's play place for the older kids. The baby room had padded floor, soft blocks, balls, some horsey rockers, and a table and benches. Wyatt LOVED the horsey rockers, I think we need to get him one!

After his playdate, we went to see Dr. Leffler about Wyatt's eye. It was just a follow up. It cost us $20 to hear the Dr say oh his eye looks good. I already knew that for free! Oh well, it gave me an excuse to drive down South which gave me an excuse to set up a playdate!

The girls were talking about this grocery store called Sprouts. I am super excited for it when we move down there! It has fresh produce, that is cheaper than Kroger, and is really good! Fresh Dairy, fresh fruits, good prices, that is exactly what I want in a grocery store! http://sprouts.com/home.php?goto=departments

So on Kelly's Korner, she is doing Show Us Your Life. Granted, it's supposed to be on Fridays. I am a little late, but oh well! This week is Wedding Dresses. I loved loved loved my wedding dress! It was from David's Bridal. I wanted the one with Rum Pink accents, but with my wedding colors being Fuschia and Kiwi, it didn't really go. So I got the all white dress. The next couple weeks will be Wedding themed, which is great because our 2nd Wedding Anniversary is August 18! We were married in Tulsa, OK in Asbury UMC. The Church is absolutely beautiful! It was built a few years ago, and it is just gorgeous!
I loved the back side of my dress!
The funny thing about my dress is that when my Grandma and I went shopping, I told her I didn't want lace, I wanted a sleek matte satin finish, and sleeves. This dress is everything I didn't want. But I love it. After trying on about 20 dresses, I knew this was the one! I felt so beautiful in it. I loved the details, I even loved the lace! If it weren't wrapped up in a $200 box, I would probably put it on all the time!

We were married on my Grandparent's 50th Wedding Anniversary! We all thought that was soo neat, and my Grandparents thought it was the perfect way to spend their Anniversary! My grandmother has always been my best friend. My grandparents raised my 2 sister's and I from the time I was 2 1/2. So, getting to share their special day and make it our own special day was extra special!!

Did I mention my niece who was the flower girl, had a mini wedding dress? It matched mine exactly only smaller! She felt like such a princess that day!

Next Friday, its Wedding Party, so Corley, Brooke be ready for some Awesome wedding pictures of you two! Hee!!

So this past weekend had the makings of a fantastic time with the fam. Trav and I loaded everyone up (everyone being Casey Jones and Wyatt) Thursday night and hit the road to Tulsey Town. We dropped the dog off at Trav's brother's house and continued on to my Grandparents house.

Early Friday morning (7am lol), we loaded up the G-rents, my sister, baby, husband, and I into our ridiculously large, horribly un-efficient, but comfortably spacey Suburban and headed for the oh-so-wonderful state of Nebraska. By the time everyone was loaded, we topped off our gas tank, got some drinks and hit the highway, it was a quarter til 9. We stopped for an hour for lunch in KS (the state I plan to turn into an ocean when I become President) and arrived in Kearney, Nebraska at 6:15. It was a boring drive, no one died of cholera or got exhaustion.

After having dinner with my grandpa's sister, we went swimming and went to bed.

Up again at 7 am to go see the ol' homestead. A year ago this past weekend, I found my Great Grandmother dead on her North porch. We had driven up for a funeral, and ended up having 2. Its an image I will never get out of my head. Well, we sold her old house (built in 1915, gorgeous details) for $10 as long as the lady would move it off the site, fill in the basement, and remove all the out buildings by August 1 this year. Well the house is moved, it looks pretty nice. She is adding a walk in basement under it. Grandmother would be happy to know her house is still being lived in and maintained.

After seeing the progress, we drove through the corn fields to show Travis the land that one day will be ours. Then off to see the Renter to make an agreement with him for the price of corn/bushel for this year. Then off to the Big O, yup Omaha. Woooo! Lol. The whole reason for our trip was the Travis Family Reunion (yes, I married a man whose name just so happened to fit perfectly in with my family ha)! We stayed the night in La Vista, NE, went swimming again, and ate at the Cracker Barrel. Sunday we all got up and went to the reunion. I saw my cousin Mandy's new lil daughter Hope. She has Polycystic Kidney Disease, but she is a beautiful little girl. Mandy also has 2 very ornery twin boys who are 4. They are just so fun!

About 3 pm we loaded back up in the Burb and headed for Beverly Hills...er...I mean Tulsa. We arrived home about midnight.

So over 4 days, we spent about 21.5 hours in the car. Well, Monday morning, Wyatt was sitting on the couch just to my left and playing with my glasses, they were his favorite toy. When all of a sudden BAM, (no more enthusiasm than Emeril), My glasses ear piece is in my ear. I have blood coming out of my ear, and Travis is FREAKING OUT! So we stick the baby with Aunt Lissa and high tail it to ErGent Care. My baby tore the bottom part of my ear drum! I now have a sore ear, a sore arm from the evil Tetanus shot (which honestly hurts worse than my ear!), am $85 poorer because between the co-pay and 3 Rx it cost an arm and a leg. Now I am praying that the ear drum will heal on its own, otherwise they will have to put a patch on it. I have been having a little trouble hearing, apparently I am talking louder, but everything is kinda muffled through my left ear. I think though it is because it is swollen due to the damage and it will get better. We will find out on August 3 when I go in for a follow up. Happy Birthday Trav, we get to go to the Dr. Woooooooo...

So that was my weekend. Now I am sitting at home with a napping baby, a pigsty of a house, drugged up on Loratabs for the pain, and wanting to clean but getting dizzy from moving around too much. Oy. At least the baby is napping for now. I love it when that child sleeps, he is so precious. My favorite pictures are of him sleeping, he really does look like an angel.

"He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." (Psalm 107:20)

Ok, so it is no big secret I have a love affair with Old Navy. Their clothes last forever, are priced really well, and are really cute! I have clothes from Old Navy I bought back in Middle School that are still holding strong!

Their jeans are my absolute favorite. They are comfy and fit me perfectly. And best part is they are only 30 bucks! I have bought jeans from JCP, AE, and other high priced places that cost 50 or 60 dollars. They didn't last more than a year. The AE jeans lasted a whole week. I was sooo mad! I paid all that money to wear them a week before they got a huge rip in them all the way up the inside leg! Old Navy however, I have had the same jeans for years, since at least freshman year of college, which although was only 4 years ago, thats a pretty long time in jean years!

Ok, so why am I loving on Old Navy today you ask? Well, first of all, they have OldNavyWeekly.com This website has great deals on it once a week. From coupons for $75 off $100 on down. You can't get better than that. Especially since you can get sooo much at Old Navy for 100 buckaroos.

Secondly, there is a blog called From Dates to Diapers that is giving away 9 coupons that are $65 off $100. You should go to : http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/ and enter!!

And because the picture didn't show up on my last post, I will try again