My first Mother's Day

Today was so special, it was my first Mother's Day. The day started off with my boys surprising me with breakfast and flowers and then we headed to Branson. We met up with John's parents, sister and brother-in-law and my parents and sisters. We had lunch at Famous Dave's, walked around the Landing and then the outlet mall. My mom got me a locket with Sawyer's name on it with his picture on the inside and a collage frame for my desk. It was such a perfect day. Thanks Mom for making me the mother I am today and thanks to my Mother-in-law for raising an amazing man who is not only my best friend and husband but an amazing father!
Such a bittersweet close to the weekend, while I celebrated mom's day I also prepare to head back to work tomorrow, starting a whole new chapter for our family.

Sawyer: 12 weeks

While I am so excited our little guy is 12 weeks, I'm sad because that means my time home with him is up. I head back to work Monday and I will really miss our time together. He is grown so much over these past weeks and I really cherish every minute we had. The good news is he will be home 3 days with his dad and then 2 days at a great daycare. Makes going back so much easier.
Wish me luck Monday and that I don't cry the whole day!

Sawyer playing in his crib

Sawyer meets Papa Sam

Johns grandparents, Sam & June, are back in town for the summer so we brought Sawyer up to The office to meet his great grandfather. It was so cute and Sawyer just loved it. He was even smiling and trying to talk while Sam held him. We plan to take him to meet his great grandmother, June, later this week too.

Kitchen Experiments: Black Bean Burgers

I haven't had red meat since 2005. What started as part New Year's resolution + part health kick turned into a 7 year commitment. There is definitely no going back now. We do a lot of experimenting when it comes to non-red meat dishes and after having a delicious black bean burger at a restaurant the other day, John had the idea to try it at home. Sawyer even got to hang out while we prepped them in the baby Bjorn. They were pretty simple and turned out delicious!

Black Bean Burgers

notice we forgot to get buns..bread works just as nice.

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Steps

1. If grilling, preheat grill for high heat and oil a sheet of aluminum foil. (or you can  bake: preheat oven to 375 degrees F and oil a baking sheet.

helping mash the beans

2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.

looks a little funny

3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.

4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.

5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans.

6. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together.

we added cheese of course - john did Velveeta and I did Spicy cheese from the Farmer's Market

7. Divide mixture into four patties.

8. Place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

Wore the little guy out!

Video: Sawyer Playing

Sawyer is loving his play gym so I just had to get some videos of him playing. I love how intense his face gets!