He LIKES it! Mikey LIKES it!

Well, I am starting to take more pictures of Jesstine by herself. That fast?! Tonight's dinner was a GREAT opportunity to do so! So what's with the title? Well, if you know Jesstine, you know she doesn't eat very well...unless she really likes it! MUCH like the Life cereal commercials of old. So, you wanna see what Jesstine had for dinner? Eat your heart out Uncle Greg!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Food and a PoKnee Ride

Just popping in with some more pictures from the day to day life! I think it is kind of funny how people often have less pictures of their second and third children unless with the older sibling(s). Umm, for me it has been the opposite! Oops! We will have to remedy that! It just seems like I want to catch all of Emmitt's milestones on camera. In doing so, I am snapping away pictures of Emmitt and Jesstine only gets in them occasionally when she is interested in Emmitt! And now my goal to make more meals at home has me snapping pictures of FOOD too! I will strive to do better! Part of the problem is that Jesstine has decided she doesn't want her picture taken part of the time. But sometimes I just can't resist!

 Every once in a while, Jesstine gets a wild hair and decides she wants to hold Emmitt. This is becoming more and more of a challenge as he gets bigger. We give it a try nonetheless! She LOVES her brother....for now! She likes to get down on the floor with him and entertain him while he is on his play mat. She dances to his music when he is in his spinning saucer. She is helpful when he is fussy or when I need a diaper when I change him. She is really settling into this big sister life....for now! We have already seen the writing on the wall with all of her tiny toys and Emmitt almost being able to roll over! He puts his hands in his mouth constantly. I can just see him grabbing one of her "squishies" and chomping down! It will happen sooner or later! 

 Jesstine's friend Kylie LOVES babies, especially Emmitt! 

 Taking a ride on the PoKnee! See video below!

 The spell check always balks at the word "exersaucer" and I spell it about 4 different ways. SO from now on it is the spinning saucer. Are you tired of pictures of Emmitt in this thing yet? Well there are so many for two reasons. 1) I am amazed at how young he actually can sit in it and enjoy. Things (not just this either) were SO different with Jesstine partially because of the neck issues she had at this age. 2) He has already figured out how to turn himself! He was facing the other way when I set him in there!

 Here is a shout out to his Aunt Jenni for the cool shirt he is about to outgrow! (All of the other Aunts he has are great too. It's just that this picture is brought to you courtesy of Aunt Jenni by way of the sweet duds.)

 Trying out some more food ideas. This is from Pillsbury (HERE). It is Rustic chicken pot pie. 

Here is the finished product. A few things I would change are: 1) using a garlic mashed potato mix and less of it in the actual recipe. 2) I would also just make half of the recipe or make the soup mixture without the dry potatoes mixed in and then freeze it. 3) There are plenty of mixed veggies so I wouldn't need the veggies that the soup provided, nor do we need the calories! So I would probably use a 98% fat free cream of chicken next time and maybe some diced chicken breast. Other than that it was really pretty good! Not terribly healthy as it is on the website, but tasty and easy!

And now a little more for this handsome fella. He loves his PoKnee rides already! FYI: Never try this just after he eats though.

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

This Week

I know I just posted a few days ago, but wanted to catch you up on what ELSE has been going on this week. Before I get to the pictures though, here is another funny three year-old story. This time it was actually a four year-old friend who must have the same thought process as Jesstine. Jesstine had a friend, Sidney (or Cindy as Jesstine pronounces it), come to play for a few hours on Friday. When it was time to take "Cindy" home, I told the girls to get their shoes on. When I was FINALLY ready to go, "Cindy" was waiting at the front door. I told her we were going to go through the garage. She asked, "Why?" I said, "Well, that is where our van is parked. Do your parents park in the garage?" She thought about it and said, "Well, yeah....but not YOUR garage!" Hehe! They are so cute together. Sidney was born in October after we lost Babe B. I held her a LOT when she was a baby! It is nice that she and Jesstine like each other so much! Jesstine sat by her in church this morning too! Now, on with the pictures!

 Following the birth of a baby, my OB's office always gives us a certificate for a free 8x10 and a free photo session at a really nice place here in town. We did this for Jesstine, so we were excited to do the same for Emmitt. Here is a sample of what we got done. I took a picture of pictures, hoping that I wasn't going to break copyright. I left their name on it though, so that is where they get credit. I may have to take these down pretty soon. Just wanted to share for those of you who won't be in my living room to admire them! (Jesstine is on the left and Emmitt is on the right.) PLEASE don't copy these or save them! That WILL break copyright law! They are only for your temporary viewing pleasure!

 This was MY pick to display at work!

 My lovely sister, Ola, made Emmitt a couple of "lovey" blankets. This one is known as a taggie! Emmitt absolutely LOVES it! Here he is using it to teethe on!

 He has been working REALLY hard to try to roll over. He is pretty close. This isn't even the furthest he has rolled. It is exciting! With Jesstine, this took 5-6 months because of her neck!

 He is also still enjoying some tummy time!

 Getting better at sitting up too!

 I have always heard that the last kid gets the shaft when it comes to pictures! Well, that turns out to NOT be the case with us! I have found that I try so hard to capture Emmitt's little moments, that I am taking FAR more photos of him than I am of Jesstine. This picture is of what I saw when I came home today from a workout at the Y. It was a WONDERFUL greeting! After this, we went out to play because it is like spring weather here!

 After our trip back, I had to change Emmitt's clothes. I put this on him because our house was really warm from leaving the windows open much of the day. This is a SPECIAL picture for Uncle Seth! But, all of his uncles rock!

Finally, I have been spending a LOT of time searching for recipes and things so that I can make more meals at home. We eat out a LOT! Funds have been slowly getting lower and lower. So in an attempt to quit spending as much, we are trying to eat at home. I am really tired of the scrounge nights...SO I turned to a great new website called Pinterest. It is where a bunch of people find things on the web and instead of creating a massive amount of web bookmarks, they pin certain things that interest them. Their pins are then saved on virtual bulletin boards that they can go back and look at any time they need to! You can also repin something someone else has already posted. It is pretty fantastic! I made two recipes from there, one from Pillsbury and one that was inspired by Pinterest, but was my own creation! This is my own creation! It is a twist on the classic grilled cheese. I used three kinds of low fat cheese (Colby jack, American, and mozzarella) and some slices of Avocado! Mmmmm! Jesstine and Stephen had Grilled Cheese too, just more  like the old fashioned kind! It was a good meal weekend in our household! 

So, here's to the beginning of hopefully another fantastic week! Thanks for stopping by!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

See, See! Look, Look....

Jesstine is reading!!!

See for yourself!!

Story 1: Dick

Story 2: Sally

Story 3: Help, Help

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Just Business As Usual

So what have we been up to lately? Well, we have just been enjoying being a family! Emmitt is growing and learning new things each day. He is starting to really show his personality!

 He loves his rattle! He will keep it in his hand for quite a while.

 He also likes to put it in his mouth.

 Jesstine has spent a LOT of time loving on Emmitt too! The feelings are mutual! He smiles just about every time he sees her! We will see how long that lasts!

 He is doing much better at tummy time too. This set of keys is one of his favorite things! I need to get a second set to have in the diaper bag!

We also took a chance and pulled out one of Jesstine's favorite toys. This is the exersaucer. My sister and I were expecting at the same time and she found this at Sam's Club for $33. The same one at Babies 'R Us was around $100. I am glad he already likes it! We will certainly get our money's worth out of it! It is fun to see him try to figure out how to get his hand to make the motion to move the rollers.

 I also love looking at his feet when he is playing! HeHe! The monkeys really make it cute!

 I tell you, these two really love each other. Emmitt was ready for a bottle and bed at this point, but Stephen had the guys over for cards, so I had to get both kids to bed. So, I set Emmitt in with Jesstine while she listened to a CD book. He didn't protest at all. I came in to find them holding hands!

Today we had a rare February hail storm. It was like snow coming down out of the sky! It was a really strange site to see. There was a lot of it too!

 Hail on the roof.

 Hail on the bricks on the side of the house.

And lastly, Emmitt has REALLY been enjoying his rice cereal! He really does get a lot in his mouth! We started out giving him cereal every other day and he started to associate it with his routine, so I started to feed it to him nightly!

He is SO excited when he starts to eat it. He even starts to laugh. Today he started to squeal when he was super tickled or excited. You can hear a little of that here.

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Valentine's Day

25 years ago today, one of the few male role models that I had in my life, my grandpa, went to be with Jesus. I only had him in my life for 4.5 years, but in that short time I have many great memories! I remember when I found out he had died. I cried a lot! I was so sad and angry that I bit the arm rest in between the front seats in our car at the time. Typically this day has been such a sad day for me in the past. I always made it a point to reach out to my grandmother, who is now also with Jesus, on this day. As a child, I spent many years praying for a man of God to love me with the love he was supposed to! I thought I was praying for a grandfather like Grandpa or a father that I have never had. Little did I know, God had something else in store for me! God was preparing my heart for Stephen. I have enjoyed my day with my family. Seeing my daughter innocently enjoy this special day gave this day a different perspective for me. To most it is just a "Halmark Holiday." To me it is a day to reflect on the things that really matter to me. It is a day to remind me that I need to acknowledge the importance of these people in my life. Not just today, but EVERY day! So to my family. I love you all dearly! I am so thankful for each and every one of you! I have enjoyed the last almost 11 years (if you count dating) with my Stephen and I look forward to the MANY years to come! Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a little of how we shared our love for each other as a family today!

 Daddy's valentine for Jesstine. The chocolate pop has Wushock on it (the Wichita State mascot).

Our valenteeny all ready for school!

 My funny Valentine!

 Socks from Grandmom! She liked them SO much she wore them to bed tonight!

 Kids and I made this for Daddy. In pink are Jesstine's handprints and in white are Emmitt's footprints.

 Swimsuit and glasses are for Emmitt from Mommy and the hat and swimsuit cover are from Grandmom to Emmitt! He is going to be the cutest little boy in the pool and out! :-)

 Jesstine got this cup from Grandmom. It has a button that sets some blinking LED lights on. She put it in front of the fish tank to let Cookie Monster enjoy it!

Guess what? Football butt!

 Entertaining Emmitt before we eat dinner...

 Entertaining Emmitt DURING dinner (Thank you Daddy for rigging this up for him! Amazing what you can do with straws!!!)

 Enjoying her chocolate from Daddy after eating all of her lasagna after complaining that she didn't like it! Silly girl!

Mommy's chocolates from Daddy. Aren't they pretty???

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Preschool Valentines

Since Jesstine is in preschool this year, she gets to take valentines to school!!! I really wanted to do something different than just go buy the kinds with characters or candy. I wanted them to make an impression on the little three year-old kids in her class. Most of all, I wanted to send something that had a Bible verse or something to emphasize that this isn't just a commercial holiday! Since it is a Christian preschool, I KNOW that it will be perfect! I saw this on a friend's blog HERE, and thought I would give it a try. It also gave me the chance to have Jesstine practice writing the J for her name and coloring in the lines. She really needs practice with holding a crayon properly. So this is what our favorite three year-old girl has been up to.

 Here is what I started with.

 Cut the little rectangles out.

 I then cut the hearts out and wrote, "Love, Jesstine" on the inside.  The J was written in a way that she could easily connect the dots and trace it. She did a FANTASTIC job!

 She also colored the noses and lips that I drew on each one. She was a little confused with the rectangles cut you and the sunglasses missing. She thought there needed to be eyes.

Here is the inside. I actually wrote a Bible verse on the side with the sunglasses, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place..." Proverbs 15:3 (Thanks to my wonderful Mother-in-Love for helping me find a verse that fit the inside saying on the card so well!) OH and the sunglasses were FREE!!!! I had planned on doing this before I even had the sunglasses, but happened to get some free ones at the health fair that was held at our school last week!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family