Halloween!!!

"Halloween??? Scary!!!"Ok, not really. I'd say that we had a collection of animals from the zoo rather than a scary Halloween this year. Which suits Matt just fine. He still tells the story of how he was scarred for life after seeing a KISS poster as a child. He even covered Banks' eyes when scary trick-or-treaters came to the door. Guess parents really do pass things down to their children. Banks will never be allowed to have a KISS poster in his room and that suits Matt just fine!

My little monkey!Emerson the puppy dog, Banks, and Mimi the pig

Banks and his older woman, Hadley the lady bug. He's checking her out. Banks had a great first Halloween! We had several people over to cook out and trick or treat. Sweet Anna even volunteered to take Buford trick or treating! Of course, he was all about the treats!

And Banks is all about the tricks...he rolled over!!! He's done it twice and we've been able to get it on video. It's too funny...he goes in slow motion and is then so proud of himself when he's finished! I'll try to get some pictures of him in action so I can put them on here.

Fish Tacos

So, I have to be honest...there's something about fish tacos that just grosses me out. I think it's because when I think of fish tacos it reminds me of the Fillet O Fish sandwich which then reminds me of the McRib sandwich and then I'm totally disgusted. I decided to give them a go and I think they were great! I like the spiciness of the fish combined with the coolness of the cilantro sauce. Matt and I give these an A+!!

Fish Tacos

For the fish:

2 tilapia fillets

paprika to taste

salt to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

dill to taste

juice of one lime

olive oil

You also need:

half a head of cabbage-thinly chopped

4 flour tortillas

white sauce

For the white sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoon minced cilantro

3 tablespoons mayo

1 tablespoon sour cream

1 tablespoon lime juice

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; season fillets with paprika, salt, cayenne, and dill and place in skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until cooked though and flaky. While fish is cooking, squeeze lime juice over each fillet. Once cooked, flake fish to put on tacos.

To make the white sauce, mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

To assemble tacos spread generous amount of white sauce on each tortilla, top with flaked fish and cabbage. Serve with a big margarita and enjoy!

I lied.

I'm supposed to be posting pictures of Banks in his Halloween costume but I'm not...yet. We went to Zoo Boo with Emerson Sorrells and Reese Tomlinson but I couldn't get a good picture of all three of them so you'll just have to wait to see what Banks is going as this year. I know, I know, the suspense is killing you. Instead, you get some pictures of Banks at the pumpkin patch!

Not really feeling the pumpkins...

And here's my little punkin with his first pumpkin!!

New tricks!

Banks has been working hard on some new tricks! He's getting good at holding his head up steadily.
He found his hands about 2 weeks ago and is so proud of his discovery that he keeps his fists in his mouth at most times.

And...we broke out the bumbo chair and while Banks' head is a little wobbly for this we've compensated by propping the bumbo up next to a chair so if his big o' baby head falls back it just rests on the chair. He really likes his new perspective!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!! The next post is going to have Banks in his Halloween costume!

The grove!!!

Banks made his first trip to the grove this weekend for the Ole Miss/Alabama game. I'll say that it was a very interesting experience having a baby in the grove. Once, I looked up and saw a group of people in the tent next to us jamming their keys into beers in order to shot-gun them. I also saw a boy (I am calling him that because he couldn't be a day over 18 and with me approaching 30 and being a mother I am entitled to do so) being carted off by the paramedics because he was entirely too intoxicated. This was the scene at our tent at any given moment-babies galore: Not that I wish I was being whisked away in a drunken stupor; I'm just saying that it is A LOT of work having a bambino in a wet, cold, muddy grove. Banks, however, didn't seem to mind the weather a bit. He was bundled up like a little snow bunny and was happy as could be...especially seeing as we logged almost 12 hours in the grove Saturday. He was a trooper! Banks got to meet one of my best friends, Sarah. He's mad in this picture because Sarah's baby girl, June, wasn't able to come to the grove.

And here's Banks with his buddy Will. They were just chillin on this waterproof blanket that Lauren bought. I'm going to buy one ASAP...that thing was awesome.

It was a busy week!!

Last week I went back to work for a few days and my mom and dad came to keep Banks. It was wonderful having them here. I don't think I washed a single dish all week and came home to things like this:

Gram got plenty of Banks time in!

I didn't get a picture of my dad this time but he was a really big help while they were here too...he even mowed our grass! We have started swaddling Banks with the Kiddopotamus swaddle blanket because he keeps busting out of the other blankets we have. We have to swaddle him with his arms in because if they're out he flails them all around and it wakes him up. That wakes me up. No good. Well, one night while my parent were here Banks started to make a little racket and I looked at the monitor to see if he was about to get cranked up or if he was just settling back to sleep and I see my sweet dad's hand putting the pacifier back in Banks' mouth. THEN I see my dad loosen Banks' swaddle blanket...jail brake. Hands go flying. I couldn't believe it! My dad said he couldn't stand to see Banks in a "straight jacket" and wanted to set him free. Crying ensued. Here he is in his straight jacket...

Banks also got to meet his future BFF, Charlie Berry, last week. As you can see, Banks was thrilled to chill with Charlie... Molly and I have been best friends since high school and roomed together in college. Then we married boys who were good friends so we get to see each other lots. Charlie and Banks were born only ONE day apart! We are going to have so much fun with our boys growing up together!
Last weekend we traveled to Nashville for our first weekend trip since Banks was born. I was SO nervous about how he'd do but he was a perfect angel baby! He got to hang with his other BFF, Will Jones.
"Here Banks, let me get that for you..."
Banks also got to meet several of my best friends from college. Here he is with Kathleen, Kate, Erin, me, Dawn and Shelley!

Oatmeal-apples scones

I know you've all been dying for the next installment of Cooking with Kyle! This week I tried these scones: Oatmeal-apple scones

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon half-and-half

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 apple, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

Preheat oven to 450. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup half-and-half and the egg. In a large bowl, combine the four, sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (I used my pastry cutter instead) Add the oats and apple and toss. Stir in the liquid mixture until the dough just forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Pat into a 7-inch round; cut into 8 wedges. Transfer to a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the remining 1 tablespoon half-and-half. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.

Let me start off by saying that I don't know a dern thing about scones so I'm not sure I can really offer much perspective in comparison to other scones and I'm no food critic either!!! Matt and I thought that these were "just ok." If you're looking for something sweet this is not it. Really the only sweetness comes from the apple itself and the apple cooked up nice and soft. It's more doughy than I would have liked but I liked the texture that the oats provided. All in all, it reminded me a little of Thanksgiving for some reason...maybe it's the cool, dreary weather out and the smell of apples baking! If you try these, let me know what you think!