Robert is Here...

Today we all decided to take a trip down to homestead to enjoy this wonderful fruit stand/market place called Robert is Here, Krisi is always raving about this place..u might have read about it in one of her posts...and i gotta say, it was very nice. There are so many good things about that place...they have a mini petting zoo going on, they've got lots of bottled goodies like: honey, chutneys, hot sauces, jellies & jams, and salad dressings....they've got all kinds of fruits that u mostly find in the caribbean like: sugar apples(one of my favorite caribbean fruits), kenips, tamarinds, and mangoes the size of ur head! One of my favorite things from this place is their fresh milkshakes.....ummmm hmmmm, the best fruit milkshake i've ever bought!!! I had the soursop shake (guanabana), and it was absolutely delicious...i can't stop thinking about it...so much in fact that i am going to try to duplicate it soon for a drink of the week, heehee. Anywho, after Roberts we took a drive to see the country side, and also took a quick visit to the local winery. I've never really visited Homestead b4, only just drove straight through it on my way to the Keys...but it's a very pleasant, laid back, easy going kinda place...a great way to spend a Sunday.

• Mangoes as big as my big head!
  

• bottled goodies
  

• now that's what i call a drink menu!
  

• ohhh yeahh, soursop shake....yummy
  
  

• Jaiden-"man, auntie Krisi's shake is looking mighty fine...."
• Krisi- "this boy better not be eyeing my shake"
  

• Jaiden- " is she gonna offer, or do i just have to help myself?"
  

• sugar apple
  

• kenip
  

• checking out the animals
  

special breakfast :)

Lately i haven't been making breakfast for Junior like i usually use to do b4 Jaiden came onto the scene...that was always a special thing i use to do just for him on the weekends...not becuz it was a birthday or a holiday...just something between us to show my appreciation of him, something to say i love u. So since i didn't go to work this morning, and Jaiden was @ the grandparents...i took the time to make a big breakfast like i use to. This morning i made his favorite: my sweet cinnamon french toast with fresh strawberries and whip cream, scrambled eggs made with Golden Ray butter (the best butter to make eggs with, it's to die for) and diced onions, sausage, crispy baked bacon, and hash browns. He wasn't expecting it at all, and cleaned his plate! I was so happy that we could have that time together, and that i could treat him with some of his favorite things...i'm gonna try to keep this up like how i use to...becuz he deserves it. I know that i'm not the easiest person to live with, and that my mood turns faster than milk left out of the fridge...but through all of my crazy moments he has been nothing but a loving n caring husband, father, and coconut opener :)

Weekend wrap up

This weekend was very fun-filled...after work on friday... Krisi, Aunty Betty ( Krisi's mom), and I headed to dinner and a movie. Dinner: a great little place called Chipotle...we had these fantastic tacos, and chips & guacamole...these tacos were not ur typical "taco bell" taco...they were way better....everything was freshly hand made! Movie: Mamma Mia....Krisi and I have been wanting to see this movie for a while, and finally had time to go see it together, to me it was all that and a glass of juice (get it? becuz i fancy beverages over food...especially a bag of chips) becuz i love musicals, this movie is gonna go down as one of my favorites...all the songs were songs from the group Aba, whom i loveeee, and it all seemed to go with what was going on in the movie...apart from that the plot was good. I give it 5 out of 5 stars! Nothing much happened on Saturday...junior and i woke up early...he worked on class assignments, and i worked on a project my mother hired me to do...then we ran a few errands...and went down south to Miramar to pick up Jaiden from his grandparents. On sunday we all went out to do some grocery shopping, and bulk shopping at BJ'S club...since its just the two of us we save big on things like toilet paper, paper towels, and juice wen we get it in bulk becuz it last forever, we also got a few things like flashlights and water for hurricane preparations ( i know that T.S. Fay isn't gonna be anything too bad....but we rather be safe than sorry, especially with a baby). Then we all came back home for an afternoon nap. After that, Jaiden and I headed over his Aunty Krisi's house for his first playdate with Christian (9mos going on 10 soon)...that was very fun...Jaiden is in awe of all wat Christian can do, and Christian just loves showing it all off for him! I see a friendship brewing between those two...
CJ & JC.












Awwww, look at 'em...just two peas in a pod :)

My morning surprise!

This morning Junior and I woke up to a little surprise...Jaiden standing up in his crib looking at us smiling away! That is the first time he has ever done that...so we were both pleasantly surprised and proud...another hurdle jumped. Lol, it was sooo cute...he had a look on his face like " Good morning mommy n' daddy, so i see ur finally awake...well it's about time!" He has been sleeping through the night for about 3 weeks now, sighhh... finally we can get 8+ hours of sleep...without getting up in the morning. We never really had it that bad with Jaiden though, so i shouldn't complain....at 1 month he started sleeping for 5-6hours at a time and only waking up once in the morning, around 1-2 o' clock, so we would change him and feed him, then he would knock back out for another 5-6 hours...and it's been that same routine for the next few months...wen we finally stopped feeding him wen he woke up in the middle of the night, instead we took turns rubbing or patting his back till he fell back asleep. I'm not gonna lie, it was very hard at first...but we stuck with it, and it payed off in the end with him finally sleeping completely through the night :) And now it seems like we'll be waking up to a smile every morning.

Char's Drink of the week!

It's that time of the week again folks, but this time I think u'll be pleasantly surprised with the drink of the week. I've finally stopped breast feeding...and since that, i can now enjoy the sweetness of alcohol... yesssssssssss! So this week i am very proud to present the first ever alcoholic cocktail drink of the week: Coco Loco. Since my last drink of the week post, alot of ppl felt that i should do something a little more exotic....well i aim to please, and u can't get anymore exotic than this. I got the idea from this book that i bought sometime last year @ AC Moore, and as soon as i laid eyes on it i couldn't resist getting it....it's called: the perfect drink, by Francis Mayfield, and i've always wanted to try making a drink from here...so i gave it a shot. Junior picked the drink, (and did all the manual labor, hehehe) and i changed the ingredients up a little to make it my own and put it together. We made it tonight after dinner, and it was very good... i loved it...it's sweet, tart, fruity and got just the right amount of alky to make u feel all warm and tingly inside. Here are the ingredients along with instructions on how to make it urself, followed by some pics of the ones we did. Enjoy everyone!

Ingredients: Serves 2

2 dried coconuts

8-10 slighty crushed ice cubes

1 and 1/2 shots of Malibu coconut rum

1 shot of dry gin

1/3 cup of pineapple juice

2 shots of sugar syrup*

1 lime

Carefully saw the top of the coconuts, reserving the water inside. Add the crushed ice cubes, coconut rum, dry gin, pineapple juice, sugar syrup, and reserved coconut water in a shaker. Shake everything up. Pour into coconuts evenly. Squeeze 1/2 of the lime over each cocktail and drop it in. Serve with a straw, and enjoy!

*sugar syrup - can either be bought in a store or made urself. I choose to make mines, its super easy...and a really great way to sweeten cold drinks, becuz it dissolves without any effort...which isn't the case with normal granulated sugar. All you do is simply stir an equal amount of water and extra fine sugar in a small pan over low heat until sugar dissolves(for example if u put 1 cup of water, u would also put one cup of sugar). Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes, then let cool. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.

Bananas incognito....

I've been feeding Jaiden Gerber's baby food for about 2months now....and one of the foods i can't ever get him to eat is the banana puree. He absolutely hates it...and i thought he would love it since i did wen i was a baby ...so i bought like 3 packs of them! So for the longest i had a whole bunch of banana baby food taking up space in our pantry. Now according to the experts over at Gerber...u might have to try feeding ur baby a food like 10-15times (if i rmbr correctly) until they finally accept it...now, i'm all for trying a few times like 4...but after that i gave up. Then recently my light bulb went off! I usually feed him cereal in the mornings for breakfast, so i figure why not sneak the bananas in there... would he notice?? So i did just that one morning, and BINGO! He fell for it.... hook, line, and sinker....hehehe i feel so sneaky, but hey it worked! Whatever gets the job done i say...as long as its legal, and in some cases even morally right...hah, just kidding. Well here are some pics of Jai enjoying his bananas incognito:

My weekend in a nut shell

This weekend was very pleasant. On friday i went to work, and then after work Junior and i went to Sonics with Krisi and her mom. That was fun as always, and the food was great! I will post pictures of the food from there soon.
On saturday junior and i slept in a bit, because Jai was still over my parents house. Then i finally got to go and get my hair treated and permed....phew, it was a hot mess let me just say. After that i hopped over to my parents place to pick up Jai, and and we drove back home. Later that night, 2 of Juniors friends came over and we ordered pizza and drank beer and hung out and laughed the whole night.
Then on sunday Junior, Jai and I spent the morning together watching the Olympics and listening to music. Jaiden finnaly crawled!!!!!!!! We were so surprised, it was totally unexpected... we were all on the bed, and i picked up my laptop and place it @ the end of the bed (Jaiden has always had a fixation with my laptop) and he just got up and started crawling to it, it happened so fast so we didn't have time to ctach it on video, but I will catch wen he does it again and post the footage soon! That was one of the many happy moments Junior and i have enjoyed together, we felt so proud u know...and i'm sure there will be lots more to come!
After that, we all got ready to go out...Junior and Jaiden went to visit his parents, and I went to a crop, that Krisi invited me to, over at Paper Niche (a great scrapbook store where Krisi works), and worked on 2 pages...i didn't finish them, but as soon as i do...i will be sure to post it. It was really fun, we had everything Mexican: sangrias, margaritas, tortillas with salsa + guacamole, and spicy chicken tacos with all the fixins'...it was great meeting some of the Niche posse, can't wait to do it again!

* you can view pics of the crop, by hopping onto Camille's page, just click on her name...it is in my Insane asylum.

New walker

I have recently started going back to work on fridays and some saturdays, and while i'm at work my dad has offered to babysit Jaiden. He just adores him to death, it's so crazy...i've never seen this side to him before...he's like a gentle kitten now, lol...it's too sweet. Anywhoo, this morning i was dropping Jaiden off...and his grandpa had a special surprise waiting there just for him... it was his first very own walker! I have plans to get Jaiden one too, but as a present for wen he turned 6 months. Jaiden was so surprised, and as soon as he laid eyes on it he stretched out his arms trying desperately to get to it. Once he got in it, he didn't know where to begin playing... he loves it sooooo much, he was bouncing and spinning and cooing up a storm, i was so happy to see him so happy. What more can a mommy ask for?

Char's Drink of the week

Well it's that time of the week again, time for my drink of the week! This week's drink is basically a heart attack in a cup : Wendy's Strawberry Frosty Shake. From the time i saw the commercial i knew that i had to try this drink, and i am sooo glad that i did. I am a huge fan of milkshakes, whether they are store bought or homeade...they are just creamy goodness with a splash of diabetes to me. Hey if u gotta go, why not go happy, huh?

Wendy's has this unique shake in 3 different flavors: strawberry, vanilla bean, and chocolate fudge... i haven't gotten around to the other flavors yet, but if any of u out there in the blogging world has... how do u feel about it? Did u enjoy it? I really like the strawberry one becuz i don't really like my shakes to be overpowered with sugar... i like to taste to actual flavor of the shake instead, and this one does just that. To me this is one of the best fast food milkshakes...i'm not too fond of Burger Kings' or McDonalds' own...it's just to sugary to me. Anyway without further delay, here it is in all its glory:

Gone Fishin

This weekend was very busy, fun, and relaxing all at the same time. On saturday we went on a fishing trip with Junior's co-workers/friends, it was my very first time meeting all of them, and i was very excited and nervous...i felt like i knew them becuz Junior is always telling me stories about all the fun and crazy times they have at work together. After meeting all of them, i wasn't so nervous anymore...they are all really nice ppl, and they made me feel like part of the gang. The area we spent the day at was beautiful... i loved it, and can't wait to visit again. We set up like a picinic area and had bbq hotdogs and burgers and i brought in baked macaroni & cheese, which was a big hit!!!! I'm glad everybody loved it. It took Junior a while to break in his new rod and start catching fishes... but he finally did it, and i couldn't have been more proud of my hunny bear! Jaiden enjoyed watching the water and the guys fishing... i know in no time he'll be standing next to them with his own little spider man fishing rod trying to catch everything in sight. He also got to play in his first patch of grass... he was so fascinated with it...i love the expression on his face wen he sees something new, it's too cute. He ended up playing soooo much that he passed out on the grass! It was very relaxing just sitting under the shade on the grass feeling the nice sea breeze... i thought it would be hot and sticky but the weather was perfect! All in all the day went very well and we even made out with 6 medium sized snapper to take home.

Japango!

Ahhhh, today Jaiden and i had lunch with my bff Krista (Aunty Krisi to him) @ one of my favorite sushi places for now... Japango! We both share a love for sushi, and its just across the street from my home. I find it a little pricey, but it is the only place within my area that has really good sushi so far. I am always in search of great sushi/thai places within my area...so if u know of any don't hesitate to let meh know. Anywhoo, we both ordered one roll we really wanted ( i got the mexican roll, and Krisi got the shrimp gorganzola roll) and then split another roll that we both wanted(japango cali roll). None of the sushi we ordered had n e thing raw in it! Alot of ppl have the misconception that all sushi has raw fish in it, well i am here to let y'all know that that is completey untrue!!!!! I have tried the sushi with raw fish in it, and either i just didn't have it done well or it just isn't for me.... but I absolutely love tempura sushi... it is the best to me (if u dunno wat tempura is, well its just wen they take things like chicken or shrimp and lighty fry it in a special batter, it is totally cooked). I enjoyed it very much, Krisi wasn't fond of the nuts in her roll... but enjoyed mines alot. Jaiden just sat in the carseat enjoying the ambiance, and he also offered to get the bill! lol. It was great getting out of the house, and i enjoyed spending time with Krisi...we should definately do it again sometime!




Mexican roll- shrimp tempura, tempura jalapeno peppers, cucumber, and spicy mayo all wrapped up w/ rice, masago and sesame seeds on the outide, and eel sauce on top! Heaven i say!

Shrimp Gorganzola roll- gorganzola and cream cheese, peanuts arugula topped w/ shrimp then drizzled with a port wine reduction

Japango Cali roll- real crab, masago cream, and cucmber w/ avocado and eel sauce on top

*i really dunno wats in eel sauce, but i find it goes great with every kind of sushi. I was very nervous about trying it... but i am glad i did... now i never eat sushi without it!

ummmmmm Mexican rollll! Love it!