I'm a Wildtree Representative!

I'm very excited to announce that I've just joined Wildtree Herbs, a direct sales company out of Rhode Island. The company sells food products that are delicious, easy to prepare, and are nutritious. The products are all natural, meaning there are no additives, preservatives, MSG or food dyes.

A sample of Wildtree product categories are: Grapeseed Oil (highest smoke point oil), culinary blends, soups & stews (including slow cooker mixes), dips, spreads, salsas, dressings, sauces, breads, desserts and gift sets.

For the past week, Dave and I have been eating the foods by Wildtree and have been impressed with the flavor that's been added to our food, in addition to the ease of preparation (so I can spend more time with Kaitlyn). Instead of being stumped about what to make for dinner, these products make the decision so much easier. All I have to do is buy some chicken or beef at the store and use my pantry staples of pasta and rice to add to the recipes supplied by Wildtree. Simple AND inexpensive!

Shop online or contact me directly! I'd love to have a Tasting Party with you!
http://www.chefshawnna.mywildtree.com/

Two Teeth & Video of Meal Time

This weekend was pretty low key and relaxing. On Saturday, we went to a pool party in the afternoon and got a visit from Aunt Lois in the evening. On Sunday, we hung out at home, watched the Olympics and chased Kaitlyn around the house. The picture below is a good view of Kaitlyn's two teeth.

The video below shows 5 minutes in the life of Kaitlyn during meal time. There's nothing particularly eventful - just some eating, drinking and talking. Even when she's not performing any tricks, I still think she's pretty entertaining to watch ;-)

Maddysen's 1st Birthday Party

On Saturday, Kaitlyn's friend Maddysen (daughter of our friends Daniella and Jeremy) had her 1 year birthday party. Of course, we were in attendance to partake in the fun. We had a nice BBQ lunch while the kids played in the pool - we decided not to throw Kaitlyn in. After hanging out for a bit, we all headed inside to watch Maddy open her huge mound of presents. Kaitlyn and the other kids had fun helping and playing with the gifts that were unwrapped.

Next, it was time for the all important first cake tasting. Maddy wasted no time digging into her cake and even ate a little bit of it. Once she got tired of poking at the top of her cake, she decided to lift the plate up and turn the whole thing upside down. Needless to say, quite a bit of cleanup was necessary, but it was fun to watch ;-) After a bit more playing, Maddy was super tired and it was time to call it a day.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. We started with a nice bike ride around our neighborhood and Kaitlyn seemed pretty tolerant of sitting in the bike trailer - more than last time. The rest of the day was filled with play time, nap time and watching the Olympics.

A weekend of family visits

Kaitlyn started the month of August with a very busy weekend. On Saturday morning, we all woke up and got ready to head out to San Jose to visit new cousin, Alyssa. On the way, Kaitlyn took a very good 2 hour nap and was ready to play and show off her walking capabilities to the family. She also thought Alyssa was interesting and tried to touch her face on numerous occasions. After a little while of hanging out at Alyssa's house, we left and went to lunch with the family at Flames restaurant. We were joined by Gramma, Grandma Sue (Kelley's mom), Uncle Dan, Aunt Kelley, cousin Andrew, and of course cousin Alyssa (who slept the whole time!). Kaitlyn learned there that she really likes canteloupe! After lunch, we headed back to Alyssa's house to play some more. With only a 10 minute nap late in the afternoon, we did lots of playing until dinner. Dinner was delicous pizza (of which Kaitlyn had none, but was promised one day she would be able to try it). Before we left, Kaitlyn got ready for bed, knowing she would fall asleep before we reached our next destination; Grandma and Grandpa Pride's house.

As we hit the road, Kaitlyn did fall asleep and stayed asleep for a while once we got to the grandparents house. Mommy and Daddy got ready for bed and chilled out for a while, then got a bottle ready to feed Kaitlyn before putting her back to sleep in her Pack 'n Play. She went right back to sleep, after hardly waking up for her bottle, sleeping until about 6:15am. Everyone got up and started to get ready for the day. Breakfast was in the oven and we were all buzzing around while Kaitlyn went through her morning routine of eating and playing. Uncle Mike joined us for breakfast, where Kaitlyn ate more canteloupe - her new fave! After breakfast Kaitlyn took a 2 hour snooze while the adults hung out and watched TV, read the paper and generally relaxed. Once Kaitlyn woke up, we all decided that we should make sandwiches and pack a picnic for our planned trip on the Niles Canyon Railway. We rushed out and almost missed the train, but made it in time for the All Aboard call. It was a nice ride through the canyon, with lots of trees and a nice breeze through the open windows on the car. We all sat and had lunch, even Kaitlyn got to eat some of Mommy's sandwich. Halfway through the ride, we stopped at a train depot in Sunol, got out and walked around, picked up some more riders, and headed back to Niles again.

When the ride was over, we hopped off the train and headed to the Fremont Festival of the Arts. Kaitlyn had never been, so we walked around and looked at all the booths. Kaitlyn has a pretty short attention span, so we didn't linger much. After that, we headed home to Tracy, arriving at 4:30pm. Mommy and Kaitlyn both slept on the way home. Later, we went to Famous Dave's BBQ for dinner, where Kaitlyn ate most of a corn muffin and had a great time listening to the music being played in the restaurant. Home again, it was time for a bath, bottle, books and bed - in that order.

All in all, a very busy and fun weekend!