Sofia Isabella

There is something so beautiful and sweet about newborn babies. They are little angels sent straight from God, and Sofia is no exception. Just looking at her makes me want another one...in a few years. For now I will be content visiting, and getting my baby "fix" with Sofi.

For those of you that don't know, this is my older (and only) Sister's first baby. I've been a Mom for over a decade and Heather is just now beginning her wonderful journey into motherhood. I am so excited for her, and I know she and her husband, Nelson, will be fantastic parents. Sofi is a lucky girl.

Randomness

Here is hard proof that it is futile to clean when you have small children at home...

Savanna and I were doing school today, and the boys were playing on the patio. They decided to come in and began to play in the living room. We've gotten used to tuning them out, but I happened to look over about ten minutes after they came in and saw that they had turned our living room into a large tent. Prior to that, everything was pretty clean and organized. Ten minutes is all it took and BAM...complete mess. Mess or masterpiece? I guess it depends on who you ask...

Savanna thought it was pretty funny, and as you can see from the look on Ben's face, he is very proud! :)

Dinner with the Wyetts

James has a general rule that he tries to keep at meal times... don't look at the children, especially Ben. It can make one lose his appetite very quickly! I usually agree, but there is something about a kid digging into a bowl of spaghetti with his hands that is very cute, even though I didn't think it was that cute an hour later when I had to clean it up off the floor!

Bradley informed me that he didn't want noodles, and then politely asked if he could have a big salad for dinner instead. What five year old says that? That worked out great because he can't have spaghetti anyhow. So he had a big salad with his cashew ranch and some homemade hummus (the last pic). I eventually will add a blog to list some of our creative recipes, but I wanted to share this hummus recipe because it is very easy and very good.

Hummus is a staple in our home. We have tried all kinds, but usually they are garbanzo bean (chick pea) based. Well, Brad is allergic to these now, so I have found several great no-bean hummus recipes. I tried this one out and it was a huge hit. After his salad, Brad sat with a spoon and just at this hummus out of a bowl like it was pudding or something!

Here it is:

Artichoke Hummus

• 1 artichoke heart
• 1 zucchini, peeled but keep the skins
• 1 cup tahini
• ½ of a lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove of garlic
• ½ tablespoon paprika
• 1/3 cup olive oil

I used a fresh artichoke and took out the heart so there isn’t a lot of artichoke in here. You can use more if you want (and ones from a can or jar would work too).
1. Peel zucchini and chop up and put in blender with HALF of the skins you peeled off. (the peels seemed to add a different flavor but they are strong so if you have a big zucchini don’t add them all unless you want it very green). If your zucchinis are very small, then you can use two. 2. Add rest of ingredients in blender and blend until thick and creamy. Add water as needed to help with blending. 3. TIP: the olive oil lends to the richness so add more if you need too.

*I added some dill and parsley flakes which Brad loves.

Enjoy!

Last Picture...For Tonight :)

Can you tell I'm a proud Auntie? :)

End of the Weekend Update

I just think this picture is funny, snotty nose and dirty face and all!

As you can see, Bradley is feeling and looking much better! His cold is almost gone and his allergies have tamed down quite a bit. We are still maintaining the diet, but we also went to the health food store and got him some awesome homeopathic allergy "medicine" and eye drops.

Normally the natural remedies seem to take a little longer, but within 24 hours of giving him these two things, he was like a new kid! I am so grateful that he is looking better. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts! We still have a trek to go, but I feel like we've just made it over a steep hill!

We had a relaxing weekend watching General Conference over the Internet. Savanna and I didn't even bother getting dressed, we just laid around and listened to our church leaders all weekend. There were some really awesome talks and great advice that we plan on putting into action in our family as soon as possible. You know things aren't ideal when the third general authority mentions temple attendance and your 11 year-old says, "Mom, you really need to go to the temple more!"

The boys managed well too. There were a few complaints, but mostly they read their books and played with their cars, and we actually heard what was going on! It's the little miracles in our every day life we should be grateful for. :) Overall, a very relaxing and uplifting weekend!

More Pictures...as Promised

The Serrano Family

Oooh, somebody's mad!

Cuddling with Mama.

I received a few more pix of Sofi via email that I wanted to share! She really is a cutie!! More to come!